Ickes v. Ambridge, Leetsdale & Edgeworth Street Railway Co.

Citations

• 247 Pa. 392
• 93 A. 488
• 1915 Pa. LEXIS 846

Syllabus

<p>Street railways — Change of grade of street — Liability for damages to abutting property — Evidence.</p> <p>In an action by a property owner against a street railway company to recover damages caused by the lowering by the defendant of the street in front of plaintiff’s property, it appeared that the ordinance which gave the railway company the right to construct its road upon the street was conditioned that the road should conform to the established grade, but that when the line of the plaintiff’s abutting property was reached the company cut down the grade of the street, .and it further appeared that after the company started work on the street the borough by ordinance changed the grade, and the excavation in front of plaintiff’s property was just what was required under the ordinance. The plaintiff offered to show by a witness when it was that the work was done before plaintiff’s house, which offer was refused. Upon appeal, held, error, as this evidence was material, since, if the work was done by the defendant company subsequent to the adoption of the ordinance the plaintiff could look only to the borough for compensation for any damage sustained, but if it was done before, then the defendant company was answerable for the injury.</p>