City of Olympia v. Lemon

Citations

• 93 Wash. 508
• 161 P. 363
• 1916 Wash. LEXIS 1234

Syllabus

<p>.Trial — Findings op Fact — Necessity — Equitable Actions. Where, in eminent domain proceedings to acquire property for a street, on objections to the assessment roll raising the issue that the property already belonged to the city, it was stipulated that the court should determine that question, the action became in effect an equitable action to quiet title in the city; and therefore findings of fact were not essential to sustain a judgment in favor of the city.</p> <p>Municipal Corporations — Streets — Establishment — Prescription— Adverse Use — Extent — Width of Streets. Where, for a period of thirty-four years, there had been a well-defined road of from eight to fourteen feet in width in a city, used by the public “for miscellaneous purposes,” the public is not limited to such width as was actually used, but is entitled to such as is reasonably necessary for the easement of travel; hence an adjoining owner who recognized the public right to the extent of dedicating a fifteen-foot right of way, cannot thereby confine the public to that width, or claim damages for the appropriation of a strip thirty feet in width, where the same appears reasonably necessary, in view of the statute making county roads from 60 to 30 feet in width, and in view of a sixty-foot width for adjacent streets and .the northern portion of the street in question.</p>