Levi v. Oakmont Borough

Citations

• 44 Pa. Super. 631
• 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 231

Syllabus

<p>Road, law — Street in borough — Paving and curbing — Two-thirds of property owners — Railway tracks.</p> <p>1. Where the right of way and tracks of - a railroad occupy the entire frontage on the west side of a borough street, and a petition is presented to the borough counsel for the paving and curbing of the street, the railway company will not be liable for an assessment for such paving and curbing, and therefore need not be counted as an owner within the meaning of the Act of April 23,1889, P. L. 44, which requires that signers of a petition to pave and curb shall represent “not less than two-thirds in number of feet of the properties fronting or abutting on said street.” In such a case if the owners of two-thirds in number of feet of the properties abutting on the east side of the street sign the petition, the borough authorities will have jurisdiction.</p> <p>2. The fact that a petition under the Act of April 23, 1889, P. L. 44, includes the word “grade” in addition to “pave and curb,” will not defeat the jurisdiction of the court, where it appears as a fact that there was no grading or only such slight grading as is incidental to all paving.</p> <p>3. When an improvement of a street is petitioned for under the Act of April 23, 1889, P. L. 44, the proceeding is subject to the discretion of-the municipal authorities to regulate the width of the cartway and sidewalks and to fix the curb line.</p> <p>4. Where a petition is presented to councils to pave and curb a street, the west side of which abuts upon the right of way and tracks of a railroad company, the borough authorities may fix the west curb line of the street parallel with and five feet distant from the west side of the street, thus leaving a sidewalk five feet wide next to the right of way of the railway company.</p>