Kincaid v. City of Seattle

Citations

• 74 Wash. 617
• 134 P. 504
• 1913 Wash. LEXIS 2101

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations — Claims—Actions — Conditions Precedent — Waiver. The requirement that a claim against a city for damages sounding in tort shall be verified and shall state the residence of the claimant is made mandatory by Rem. & Bal. Code, §§ 7996, 7997, and therefore a condition precedent to action, which cannot be waived by the city.</p> <p>Eminent Domain — Taking por Public Use — Injury to Abutters. Where a city extends the slope of the fill in street grading work onto abutting property there is a taking of the property for public use, within Const., art. 1, § 16, providing that no property shall be taken for public use without compensation.</p> <p>Municipal Corporations — Claims — “Sounding in Tort” — Eminent Domain — Compensation por Property Taken. The right to recover compensation for property taken by a city for public use under Const., art. 1, § 16, is not a claim “sounding in tort” within Rem. & Bal. Code, § 7995, requiring claims against a city for damages sounding in tort to be presented as a condition precedent to action; since the city in taking property acts in its sovereign capacity and not as a wrongdoer or trespasser, strictly speaking, and the constitutional guarantee of compensation cannot be made to depend on statute law (Gose, J., dissenting).</p> <p>Same — Claims—Compensation por Property Taken. The right to recover compensation for property taken by a city for public use under Const., art. 1, § 16, is not a claim for damages or a contract claim within Seattle charter, art. 4, § 29, requiring all claims for damages against the city to be presented as a condition precedent to action; since the constitutional right to compensation cannot be so taken away (Gose, J., dissenting).</p> <p>Eminent Domain — Compensation—Injury to Property — Measure op Damages. The measure of damages for extending the slope of a fill in street grading work onto abutting property is the difference between the fair market value of the property before and afte