Forest City Railway Co. v. Day

Citations

• 73 Ohio St. (N.S.) 83

Syllabus

<p>City council shall not grant franchise for street railroad except upon certain conditions — Street railway must obtain written consent of majority of property holders — Right of property holder to consent or not — Property holder can not limit consent to particular corporation, when — Question of lowest rates of fare — Section SO, new municipal code — Section 1536-185, Revised Statutes — Municipal law — Corporation law —Granting of franchises.</p> <p>The requirements of section 30 of the new municipal code, section 1536-185, Revised Statutes, that the council of a city shall not grant a franchise for the construction of a street railroad excepting “to the corporation, individual or individuals, that will agree to carry passengers upon such proposed railroad at the lowest rates of fare, and shall have previously obtained the written consent of a majority of the property holders upon each street or part thereof, on the line of the proposed street railroad, represented by the feet front of the property abutting on the several ■ streets along which such road is proposed to be constructed,” confers upon such • property holder the privilege of giving or withholding his consent to the construction of such road, but it does not give him the privilege of limiting his consent to a particular corporation or individual. His consent so limited is inconsistent with the requirement that the ■ franchise be given to the corporation or individual that will carry passengers at the lowest rates of fare and would tend to defeat the purpose of the statute; the limitation, therefore, is void and the consent good as a consent to the construction of the road by the lowest bidder.</p>