Mandatory connections to public utilities are classic examples of social welfare regulations that merely adjust the burdens and benefits of life in the modern world. It cannot escape our notice that from the inception of such sanitary programs — and even during the Lochner era — courts have routinely rejected constitutional challenges to mandatory connection requirements. See, e.g., City of Mountain Home v. Ray, 267 S.W.2d 503 (Ark. 1954); Schmidt v. Village of Kimberly, 256 P.2d 515 (Idaho 1953) (collecting cases); Township of Bedford v. Bates, 233 N.W.2d 706 (Mich. Ct. App. 1975) (collecting cases); New Jersey v. Mayor of Paterson, 51 A. 922 (N.J. 1902); McNeill v. Harnell County, 398 S.E.2d 475 (N.C. 1990) (collecting cases); Bigler v. Greenwood, 254 P.2d 843 (Utah 1953). In the end, the plaintiffs' apparently quite sincere belief that the ordinance represents an unjustified intrusion on their rights as citizens does not carry the day.
Zoning ordinances may be judicially enforced by either civil or criminal proceedings. City of Mountain Home v. Ray, 223 Ark. 553, 267 S.W.2d 503 (1954). Civil enforcement, the most common form, is usually by actions for injunctions or declaratory judgments.
But the decision of the trial court must be affirmed if we are to abide by the present weight of authority. We have cited various authorities which we think are persuasive. Probably others might be added, e.g., Bigler v. Greenwood, Utah, 254 P.2d 843, 846; City of Mountain Home v. Ray, 223 Ark. 553, 267 S.W.2d 503, 506; Fristoe v. City of Crowley, 142 La. 393, 76 So. 812, L.R.A. 1918C 254. The decision of the trial court is affirmed.
187 Ark. at 709. In City Of Mountain Home v. Ray, 223 Ark. 553, 557-58, 267 S.W.2d 503 (1954), the court further explored the relationship between the statutory power to compel hooking up to a sewer under certain circumstances and the general police power, now codified at A.C.A. § 14-55-102, which provides: Municipal corporations shall have power to make and publish bylaws and ordinances, not inconsistent with the laws of this state, which, as to them, shall seem necessary to provide for the safety, preserve the health, promote the prosperity, and improve the morals, order, comfort, and convenience of such corporations and the inhabitants thereof.