Street Railway Co. v. Street Railway Co.
Street Railway Co. v. Street Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
The Toledo Consolidated Street Railway Company was incorporated in this state, in 1884, having authority to acquire, construct, and operate lines of street railway in the city of Toledo. There were then several street railwaj^ companies, each operating a railway by means of horse cars, in that city. They transferred their property and franchises to 'the above-named companjq •which obtained a grant from the common council to reconstruct and extend the tracks, and operate the railways, subject to the conditions in the ordinance, one of which was, that if the company should fail to comply with any of the
The Toledo Electric Street Railway Company was incorporated in this state, in 1889, and obtained from the common council, by ordinance duly passed, a grant authorizing it to construct and maintain lines of electric railway in the city, including the right to use designated portions of the Consolidated Company’s tracks in certain streets, not exceeding in length one-eighth of the distance between the termini of the grantee’s route as constructed and operated. The two companies being unable to agree upon the terms, under which these tracks should be so used, or the compensation to be paid therefor, the defendant in error instituted proceedings in the probate court of Eucas county, to appropriate the tracks to its use in accordance with the grant made by the council, and for the assessment of the compensation due the plaintiff in error therefor. Another proceeding was also instituted in the probate court, by which, upon a similar state of facts, the appropriation, in like manner, of other portions of the Consolidated Company’s tracks was sought. The authority of the defendant in error to maintain such a proceeding was challenged in various ways, but the objections were not sustained. A jury was impaneled, the amount of the compensation assessed by it was paid into court, and, after the final judgment of the probate court in its favor, the defendant in error entered upon the use of the tracks. The judgment of the probate court having been affirmed by the court of common pleas, and that of the common pleas by the circuit court, error is prosecuted here.
An action to enjoin the prosecution of the two appropriation proceedings, and another, to restrain the execution of the judgments rendered therein, were commenced by the Consolidated Company, in the court of common pleas, and thence appealed to the circuit court, where they were decided adversly to the plaintiff, who thereupon brought the cases here on error. There has also been filed in this court a petition in Quo Warranto, on the relation' of the
“ Sec. 3440. When the council or commissioners make such grant, the company or person to whom the grant is made, may appropriate any property necessary therefor when the owner fails to expressly waive his claim to damages by reason of the construction and operation of the railway. And in any city of the third grade of the first class a?iy person, persons or coinpany which is authorized to constmct and operate, and has constructed and is operating a street railway, may appropriate any property necessary for the purpose of occupying and using under section 8Jf88 any existing street railway track or tracks subject to the limitation of said section and jor not more than one-eighth of the entire distance between the termini of the route as actually constructed, operated and run over, of the appropriating compa7iy or person-at the time appropriation proceedings are begun, such appropriation to be made in the mode and manner provided for the appropriation of property in part third, title 2, chapter 8, of the Revised Statutes
The provisions printed in italics constitute the amendment made by the act of April 11, 1890, which took effect previous to the commencement of the proceedings in the probate court. The other part of the section has been in force since the revision of the statutes, of 1880.
The arguments of counsel for the plaintiff in error are directed mainly to the proposition, that the addition made to the section by the amendatory act is unconstitutional; being, they contend, in conflict with section 1, of article 13,
By the first clause of section 3438, the power is conferred, in general terms; on the councils of municipal corporations, to grant, by ordinance, to street railway companies, the right to construct their railwaj^s within, and bejmnd, the limits of the municipality. The proviso contained in the section places a limitation upon the exercise of the power, to the effect that authority shall not be granted “to occupy the track, whether single or double, or other structure, of any existing street railway for more than one-eighth of the entire distance between the termini of the route” of the company to which the grant is made. The power of the municipal authorities, within the limitations imposed by the proviso, to grant to a street railway company the right to occupy the tracks or other structures of a street railway exist
This view of the cases renders it unnecessary to pass upon the constitutional^ of the provisions added to the section by the amendatory act of 1890. If unconstitutional, they were not essential to the validity of the proceedings below; and if constitutional, the proceedings were in conformity with them.
It is further claimed b3r the plaintiff in error, that the appropriation was unwarranted because it practically defeated the public use to which the property appropriated was already devoted. If that was the effect of the appropriation, it is clear it could not be made, unless the power to make it was granted'expressly, or by necessary implication. Railroad Company v. Belle Center, 48 Ohio St., 273. But, as has been shown, the power to make the appropriation was so granted. Besides, our legislation clearly contemplates that two street railways may be operated in the same municipal corporation at the same time, and in part, over the same tracks; and also, that such use may not only be practicable, but entirely consistent with the purpose for which the tracks were originally constructed, and the right to construct them obtained; and we see no reason why it may not. The ground upon which such railways are permitted to occupy the public streets is, that they facilitate the legitimate uses of the streets by the public; and the common use of a track by two companies, in certain streets, rather than the use of separate tracks by them, may materially promote the convenience and enhance the safety of the public in the use
■ Other matters discussed have received our consideration, but need not be further noticed in the report.
After these cases were decided, the decision announced, and-the opinion prepared, it was suggested that a question in regard to the measure of the compensation involved in the appropriation cases had not been argued, and opportunity to argue the same requested, which the court has concluded to allow.
The judgments in the injunction cases are affirmed. In the Quo Warranto case, judgment will be entered for the defendant. And final judgment in the appropriation cases will be deferred until the question respecting the amount of compensation shall be disposed of.
Judgment accordingly.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.