Uhle v. Philadelphia
Uhle v. Philadelphia
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
In 1889 the plaintiff’s" predecessor in title deeded to the city of Philadelphia the bed of Fifteenth street from Courtland street to Loudon street, which includes the land in front of the plaintiff’s property, “ to have and to hold the same forever for a public street or highway, and for no other purpose, but to the same extent and with the same effect as if the said street had been opened by a decree of the court of quarter sessions for the county of Philadelphia upon proceedings had for that purpose under the road laws of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” The expressed consideration to the grantor was “ the advantage to it accruing, as well as for divers considerations, affecting the public welfare which it seeks to advance.” This deed of dedication was duly accepted and recorded prior to the plaintiff’s purchase. The grade of the street was established in 1887, and in 1899 a new grade was established seven-tenths of a foot higher, and it was agreed by counsel at the trial that the street “was physically opened and graded to the confirmed grade of October 7, 1899 on November 27, 1903.” The language of this agreement is plain and unambiguous and for the purposes of this case must be taken as it reads. The court held that as the physical opening and grading were done at the same time the plaintiff’s right of recovery was restricted to the damage done by raising the grade seven-tenths of a foot beyond the paper grade established in 1887 prior to the deed of dedication. This, in substance, is the subject of the principal assignment of error and the arguments of counsel.
The appellant’s counsel argue that the opening of the street must be deemed in law to have taken place upon the acceptance of the deed of dedication, and as the actual grading was not done until many years after, the case is within the rule, that where the grading of a street occurs as a separate act of public authorities, and so long after the opening of the street that the assessment of damages at the time of the appropriation cannot include those resulting from the grading,’ damages for the grading may be ascertained by a separate view. A similar argument was unsuccessfully made in Righter v. Philadelphia, 161 Pa. 73, in order to restrict the effect of a deed of dedication, identical in terms with the one involved in this case, to damages for opening only. It was held that the plaintiff was
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.