Philadelphia v. Kerchner

Citations

• 62 Pa. Super. 562
• 1916 Pa. Super. LEXIS 475

Syllabus

<p>Hoad law — Paving street — Turnpike road — Adoption of road by city.</p> <p>A private toll road is not a public street, and such road cannot be viewed as a public road subject to the right of the city to improve, repair and macadamize and collect the cost upon abutting property owners.</p> <p>The first paving which exempts a property holder from liability for any subsequent improvement may be defined generally as one that is put down originally or adopted or acquiesced in subsequently by the municipal authorities for the purpose and with the intention of changing an ordinary road into a street. Mere recognition of it as a highway is not sufficient.</p> <p>In an action by a city against a property owner to recover assessments for paving a portion of a turnpike road, where the defendant claims that the road had been originally paved by the turnpike company, and that the city had adopted the portion of the road in front of his premises as a city street,, he cannot show, in the absence of formal action by the city, as evidence of adoption, that the road had sidewalks and curbs, that it was lighted, had police protection, had gas and water service with collection of ashes and garbage, and that its grade had been changed by the city td conform with the grade of intersecting streets.</p> <p>Municipal liens — Paving—Assessment bills.</p> <p>In an action by a city to recover the cost of an original paving of a street, the defendant cannot show as evidence of the adoption of the street as a paved street prior to the paving, that the city officials had relieved the contractor of the burden of collecting the assessment bills, and had paid to him directly the entire cost of the work.</p>