Ligonier Valley Railroad v. Latrobe Borough

Citations

• 216 Pa. 221
• 65 A. 548
• 1907 Pa. LEXIS 784

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Boroughs—Act of June 7, 1901, P. L. 531.</p> <p>The Act of June 7, 1901, P. L. 531, prohibiting the construction of grade crossings, does not apply to streets in a borough established by ordinance three years before the date of the act; and it is .immaterial that the actual crossings were not what they ought to be to meet public requirements as to convenience, if it appears in fact that they were established crossings.</p> <p>Borough authorities in laying out grade crossings under the authority of the Act of April 3, 1851, P. L. 320, prior to the act of June 7, 1901, were not running counter to any established policy.</p> <p>Where the legislature in terms confers upon a municipal corporation the power to pass ordinances of a specific and defined character, an ordinance passed pursuant thereto cannot be impeached as invalid because it would have been regarded as unreasonable if it had been passed under the incidental power of the corporation, or under a grant of power general in its nature. What the legislature distinctly says may be done cannot be set aside by the courts on the ground that it is unreasonable or against sound policy.</p>