Verona Borough v. Allegheny Valley R. R.
Verona Borough v. Allegheny Valley R. R.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The most important question is whether there was a legal opening of West Railroad avenue. The borough council attempted to do this under the act of 1848, as is shown by the mode of proceeding adopted. But the ordinance of June 7, 1871, was not published, nor was the plan made as prescribed by the act. The notice required to be thus given to the pro*
The locating ordinance of June 1871 was not published, nor was any plan made under or in pursuance of it. The ordinance of October 1871 was published, but it misrecited
Not only was no plan made or approved under the locating ordinance, and notice thereof given, but the next term of the quarter sessions to which property owners might apply for damages, had not expired, when the ordinance of October 1871 directing the opening of the avenue was passed. This action was plainly invalid. The conditions under which the council had authority to order the opening of the street had not been complied' with.
On this branch of the case we find the whole proceeding so full of irregularities and defects that it cannot be sustained.
What has been said disposes also of the contention that the appellant is estopped by actual notice to its officers of the plan and proposed action. The plan was not such as was necessary and the evidence is conclusive that council itself did not consider either the location or the plan sufficiently adopted or approved. Waiving all other questions as to whether the facts would constitute a notice binding on the appellant, it is plain that the plan cannot have any more efficacy against the railroad company than against the council. The whole subject of a plan was open and required further authoritative action by the council, and appellant was not bound to move till such action had been taken.
It remains to be considered whether there was any dedication of this land to the public use. The master’s report shows that the equitable title was in the appellant before the deed and plan by Phillips which are claimed as a dedication. To bar appellant’s right therefore the evidence should be clear, but it was not so. The plan was indefinite as to date, the act to make it binding was not completed by Phillips himself, but
The learned court below conceding that the evidence was not sufficient to establish a dedication by use alone, thought that it would justify a finding of a dedication accepted by the public by which appellant was estopped. In this view we are unable to concur. There is an entire failure of evidence from which any intent to dedicate can be fairly inferred. The evidence on this point is fully reviewed by the master and it is unnecessary for us to go over it in detail. We are of opinion that it shows merely a permissive acquiescence by the railroad company in an occasional and varying use by the public, such as was held insufficient in Com. v. R. R. Co., 135 Pa. 256, 273.
Decree reversed, injunction dissolved and bill dismissed at the cost of the appellee.
Reference
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- Boroughs — Streets—Notice of opening — Local act of April 8, 1848. Where an act relating to the location and opening of streets provides that damages are to be assessed only upon the application of the owner, and he is liable to be barred if he does not apply, the owner is entitled to the notice provided by the act with all the accompaniments of time and circumstances that the statute prescribes in his favor. Under the local act of April 8, 1848, P. L. 415, providing that the council of a borough may “ direct and determine the location and limits” of a street, and that “apian or specification of such location shall be made and deposited in the office of the recording regulator of the borough for public examination or inspection, whereof notice shall be given in at least two newspapers,” a property owner is entitled to the notice provided by the act, and notice of the opening of the street will not answer for notice of its location. Plan of street — Notice—Estoppel. Where the plan of a street prescribed by the local act of April 8, 1848, P. L. 415, is in itself insufficient, and was not adopted or approved by the borough authorities, a property owner cannot be estopped to deny the validity of the location of the street by actual notice of the plan, and the proposed action of the borough. Dedication — Evidence—Public use. Where the dedication of a street is sought to be established either by the recording of a plan or by the actual use of the street by the public, or by such an acceptance by the public as would be binding upon the owner by estoppel, the evidence must be clear.