Central District & Printing Telegraph Co. v. Homer City Borough

Citations

• 242 Pa. 597
• 89 A. 681
• 1914 Pa. LEXIS 700

Syllabus

<p>Telegraph and telephone compames — Boroughs—Occupancy of streets — Consent of authorities — Lashes—Act of April 22, 1905, P. L. 29¡t.</p> <p>1. The Act of April 22, 1905, P. L. 294, did not repeal the supplement to the Act of April 29, 1874, Section 33, P. L. 73, passed May 1, 1876, P. L. 90, making it a condition to the occupancy of streets in a municipality by a telephone company that the consent of the municipality must first be obtained.</p> <p>2. For fifteen years a telephone company maintained and operated a telephone line through the main street of a borough. Permission by ordinance to enter upon this street and construct its lines thereon was never given the company, nor did the borough have any general ordinance regulating the use of the street by telephone companies. The company, desiring to enter upon other ■ streets of the borough and extend its lines thereon, made this known to the borough authorities, but no action was ever taken by the borough. The company directed its employees to proceed with the work of extension. The employees, being threatened with arrest by the burgess of the borough if they attempted to interfere with the streets, desisted and thereupon a bill was filed praying that the borough be enjoined from interfering with the work of the proposed extension. Held, that while the borough by laches had lost the right to interfere with the maintenance of the telephone line on the main street there could be no extension of the lines without permission from the borough authorities and that the bill was properly dismissed.</p> <p>3. In making it a condition of the right of telephone companies to enter upon the streets of a municipality the legislature did not contemplate that such consent could be withheld except for considerations affecting public welfare; any arbitrary or capricious withholding of consent by municipal authorities would not be justified. If conditions or regulations be imposed they must be reasonable.</p> <p>Constitutional l