De Witt v. Duncan

Citations

• 46 Cal. 342
• 1873 Cal. LEXIS 182

Syllabus

<p>Power to Lay Out or Change Street.—The power to lay out and change streets is in its nature legislative and not judicial, and the Legislature may itself perform those acts, or it may select such agencies for that purpose as it deems proper.</p> <p>Idem.-—A Court has no jurisdiction to lay out or change a street unless the power to do so is conferred by the Legislature, and when this power is conferred it is a special proceeding.</p> <p>Enforcing an Agreement in Which There is a Mistake .—A covenant entered into by all the tenants in common who as such own a block of land in which they intend to lay out a street through the middle of the block, but which is so drawn as to locate the street at a place not in the middle of the block, cannot be enforced according to the intention of the covenantors, without first reforming it so as to make it express the real intention of the parties.</p>