Duquesne Light Co. v. Duff

Citations

• 251 Pa. 607
• 97 A. 82
• 1916 Pa. LEXIS 513

Syllabus

<p>Townships — Townships of first class — Highways — Act of April 28, 1899, P. L. lOb- — Electric companies — Unlawful erection of poles — Rights of abutting owners — Interference—Injunction.</p> <p>1. Tbe only servitude imposed on land appropriated for a rural highway is the right to construct and maintain a safe and convenient roadway thereon, and the public acquires a mere right of passage with the powers incident to that right; in such case the owner retains the fee, and may use the land for any purpose not inconsistent with the easement acquired by the public.</p> <p>2. Under the Act of April 28, 1899, P. L. 104, classifying townships, a township of the first class is not turned into a borough or city, or anything resembling one, and its highways are not subject to the servitude of urban necessities and conveniences, other than the ordinary easement of passage by the public.</p> <p>3. An electric light company having a contract with the commissioners of a township of the first class to light the highways of the township has no right to place its poles and wires for such purpose upon a highway without the consent of the abutting owners, and a bill in equity to restrain an abutting owner from interfering with the erection on the highway of such poles and wires, is properly dismissed.</p>