City of San Pedro v. S. Pacific R.R. Co.

Citations

• 101 Cal. 333
• 35 P. 993
• 1894 Cal. LEXIS 1037

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations—Title to Tide Lands—Injunction—Construction of Wharf by Railroad Company—Permission of Surveyor General.—A municipal corporation as such has no proprietary interest or riparian rights in tide lands situated within its corporate limits, and where no title to such lands appears to have passed from the state, the municipal corporation cannot enjoin a railroad company from driving piles for the constrnction of a wharf upon such lands under permission of the surveyor general of the state, pursuant to section 478 of the Civil Code.</p> <p>Id.—Trespass Upon Rights of State—Action by City.—Even if the act of the railroad company in building the wharf be a trespass upon the rights of the state, the state alone has the right to complain, and, in the absence of any complaint on its part, the railroad company cannot be questioned about the nature of its acts at suit of the city.</p> <p>Id.—Authority of City to Construct Wharves—Municipal Government Act.—The authority given to cities by section 862 of the Municipal Government Act (Stats. 1891, p. 324), “to construct, maintain, and operate on any lands bordering on any navigable bay within the corporate limits of such city, or contiguous thereto, wharves, piers,” etc., does not clothe a city with an absolute right to construct a wharf at any point on its water front which it may select, irrespective of the rights of others; but is intended to confer upon it the same authority to do the acts therein enumerated, which a natural person would possess, and to give to its acts a sanction which it would not otherwise have; and the authority thus given does not authorize it to prevent the erection of a wharf by another person, who has a right therefor, or who does not infringe upon any of the rights of the city.</p> <p>Id.—Limit of Surveyor General’s Permit.—Section 478 of the Oivil Code does not limit the time within which work shall be commenced for the construction of a wharf, under the surveyor general’s per