Klenke v. West Homestead Borough

Citations

• 216 Pa. 476
• 65 A. 1079
• 1907 Pa. LEXIS 846

Syllabus

<p>Road law — Borough street — Change of grade — Act of May 24, 1878, P. L. 129.</p> <p>A petition under the Act of May 24, 1878, P. L. 129, sufficiently avers a change of grade, where it states that the borough by its officers and agents entered upon a street abutting the petitioner’s property, and excavated to a depth of about twenty to twenty-five feet, removing the support to the lot, and destroying the fence, shrubbery and trees.</p> <p>It is not necessary that such a petition should state that the change of grade was without the consent of the petitioner, or that the borough authorities and the petitioner had failed to agree on the amount of proper compensation to be paid.</p> <p>In a proceeding to assess damages for a change of grade an objection will not be sustained to the sufficiency of a statement filed of record, inasmuch as the case may be tried without a statement.</p> <p>Where a property is located in a township on a street shown on a plan of lots, and subsequently a borough is incorporated, and the street to its full width becomes a street of the borough, and it appears that over a portion of the street there was an old township road less than half the width of the street, the borough in changing the grade between the line of a lot and the old township road, is liable in damages to the owner of the lot affected by the change of grade.</p>