People ex rel. Buckley v. President of The Board of Trustees
People ex rel. Buckley v. President of The Board of Trustees
Opinion of the Court
The proceedings for the extension of Berme street in the village of Port Jervis, sought to be reviewed and set aside in this proceeding, contemplated the extension of Berme street through the lands of the relator, in a north-easterly direction from its present terminus, to the corporation line, a distance of about ninety-eight feet, to meet a highway to be laid out by the town of Deerpark. The application for the extension was signed by a majority of the owners of lots fronting on Berme street, but was not signed by the relator, whose lands were to be taken for the extension. The trustees of the village made an order extending the street pursuant to the application, and the relator, in his petition for the certiorari, alleges that the order is invalid and void for the reason that the municipal authorities have no jurisdiction to extend a street, except upon the application of a majority of the persons owning more than one-half of the land to be taken for the extension. This is the only question presented on this appeal, and its solution depends upon the construction of section 61 of the village charter. (Laws of 1873, chap. 370.)
That section provides that “the trustees upon application of a majority of the persons who own lots fronting on a proposed street, such applicants being also the owners of more than one-half of the laud to be taken for such proposed street, may lay out and establish any new street within the village; or upon application of such majority of the owners of lots fronting on any street, may discontinue or extend the same, or if it be less than three rods wide, may increase its width to a width not exceeding sixty-six feet.”
The section is divided into two clauses. By the first authority is given to lay out new streets. But the authority is conditional and not absolute, the condition being two-fold : an application by a majority of the land-owners, who shall also be the owners of more than one-half of the land to be taken. By the second clause authority is given to extend or discontinue
The judgment should be affirmed.
All concur.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The People, ex rel. Wade Buckley v. The President of The Board of Trustees of The Village of Port Jervis
- Status
- Published