City of Philadelphia v. Wall

Citations

• 184 Pa. 557
• 39 A. 410
• 1898 Pa. LEXIS 937

Syllabus

<p>Municipal corporations—Building laws—Act of April 21, 1855, sec. 6— Width of streets—Building on narrow streets.</p> <p>Under the Act of April 21, 1855, sec. 6, P. L. 265, a building may be erected on a street in the city of Philadelphia less than twenty-five feet wide, “ laid out and wholly unimproved by brick or stone buildings ” before the passage of the act, if the line of the building is made to recede to the twenty-five feet line; and this may be done before the street is actually opened to the widtli of twenty-five feet.</p> <p>Garden street in the city of Philadelphia was dedicated to public use by deed dated October 11,1849 ; it was laid out to the width of twenty-one feet, and was wholly unimproved by brick or stone building prior to April 21, 1855. Prior to July, 1894, the owner of a lot abutting on said street erected a brick stable on his lot fronting on Garden street two feet back from the building line. Held, that the erection two feet from the line was a practical widening of the street to twenty-five feet, and was not a violation of the Act of April 21, 1855, P. L. 265, sec. 6, providing that “no building of any kind shall be permitted to be erected on any street, court or alley here.after to be laid out, or if laid out and wholly unimproved by brick or stone buildings, before the passage of this act, of a less width than twenty-five feet.”</p>