Stowe Township Division
Stowe Township Division
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The act of 1834 relative to the division of townships is silent as to notice, but it has been authoritatively determined that the inhabitants have a natural right to a hearing before the commissioners, and, therefore, it is the duty of the commissioners to give notice: Bethel Township, 1 Pa. 97; Norwegian Township, 20 Pa. 324; Independent School District, in Sewickley Township, 33 Pa. 297. Nor does the act expressly require the commissioners to view the proposed division line, but they are required to return a plot or draft of the township proposed to be divided and the division line proposed to be made therein, if the same cannot be fully designated by natural lines or boundaries, and also to report upon the propriety of the proposed division, and it has been declared that they cannot form a correct judgment “ without a view of the country : ” Wyalusing Township, 2 S. & R. 402. Hence the duty to view is necessarily implied, but the performance of it will be presumed on appeal unless the report- shows the contrary: Wyalusing Township, supra. In the present case the commissioners reported as follows : “ That having met on the 10th day of April, A. D. 1902, pursuant to legal notice, two of the commissioners, Charles Davis and Samuel A. Foster, being present, and O. R. Cooke having since gone over the ground, all of the commissioners being severally sworn according to law, we viewed the proposed division line, and after due consideration and diligent inquiry as to the propriety of granting the prayer of the petitioners, are of the opinion that the prayer of the petitioners should be granted for the reasons set forth in their petition.” It is
It appears that there is a small tract of land belonging to the original township which was separated therefrom by the borough of McKee’s Rocks. This lies to the east of the western boundary line of the borough, and is bounded on one side by Chartier’s creek and on all other sides by the borough. The petition prayed for a division of the township by a line beginning at a designated point on the Ohio river, thence up Porter’s run or hollow to the land of the Ewing heirs, thence by property lines and a public road, describing them, to the line of McKee’s Rocks borough. The line in which the proposed division line thus terminates or merges is the western boundary line of the borough. The manifest intention of the petitioners was to include in one of the new townships all that part of the original township lying southwesterly of the line described in the petition and westerly of the borough of McKee’s Rocks, and to include all the remaining portions of the old township in the other new township. According to this plan of division the separate tract of land above referred to would necessarily be included in the latter township. The suggestion that the petitioners did not know of this piece of land has nothing in the record to sustain it, and the fact cannot be presumed. The commissioners reported in favor of a division according to the line specifically described in the petition, but when they reached the borough line added, “ thence southerly along said borough line to Chartier’s creek.” The addition of these descriptive words produced no variance between the petition, properly understood, and the report. There was thereby included in each of the new townships no more and no less than was clearly intended to be included by the petitioners. We fully recognize the rule laid down in Green Township, 9 W. & S. 22, that upon a petition of the inhabitants to divide a township the court has not power to adopt any other line of division than that prayed for in the petition, but we are unable to sustain the appellant’s contention that the rule was violated in the present case.
The Act of April 28,1899, P. L. 104, providing for the classification of townships, expressly declares: “ Except so far as modified by the provisions of this act, all existing laws relating
All the assignments of error are overruled and the decree is affirmed.
Reference
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- Townships — Division of townships — Notice—Deport of commissioners— View of locality — Exceptions—Appeals—Act of April 15, 1834, section 13, P. L. 537. In proceedings under the Act of April 15, 1834, P. L. 537, relative to the division of townships, the inhabitants have a natural right to a hearing before the commissioners, and, therefore, it is the duty of the commissioners to give notice. It is also the duty of commissioners to view the proposed division line, but the performance of such duty will be presumed on appeal unless the report shows the contrary. If the report is ambiguous on this subject, and no exception has been filed to it upon this ground in the court below, the appellate court will not, on appeal, and after the organization of the two townships has been completed, presume that the commissioners failed in their duty. Where the commissioners have reported in favor of division according to the line specifically described in the petition, objection cannot be made to the report on the ground that certain descriptive words had been added to the description of the line, where such words produce no variance between the petition properly understood, and the report. The Act of April 28, 1899, P. L. 104, contains no provision which is inconsistent with or repugnant to the provisions of the Act of April 15, 1834, section 13, P. L. 537, and its supplements, relating to the division of townships; nor is there anything in the nature of a township of the- first class which prevents its division in the mode prescribed by the general law.