Abel v. City of Minneapolis

70 N.W. 851, 68 Minn. 89
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedApril 30, 1897
DocketNos. 10,153—(10)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 70 N.W. 851 (Abel v. City of Minneapolis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abel v. City of Minneapolis, 70 N.W. 851, 68 Minn. 89 (Mich. 1897).

Opinion

BUCK, J.

The proceedings in this matter are brought here for review on a writ of certiorari.

The petitioner, Antoinette Abel, has for many years been the owner of a tract of land composed of parts of two lots having a frontage of 34 feet on Main street northeast in the city of Minneapolis. This i ract is 165 feet in depth, and has upon it a wooden, two-story dwelling. Prior to the time of the proceedings complained of, the common council of the city of Minneapolis had established a grade in said street in front of said tract of land. Subsequently the legislature enacted a law, Sp. Laws 1885, c. 5, providing for a change of grade of the streets in said city, and by its terms, in case of permanent buildings having been erected upon a lot abutting upon the street so graded, the owner thereof may file with the city clerk, within 20 days after such city council shall vote to change the grade in front of such permanent building, notice that he will claim damages by reason of such change of grade in front of said building, giving a description of land upon which the same stands, together with the amount of the value of such building in his judgment, and the amount of damages which such change of grade will in his judgment cause to said permanent building; which notice shall be sworn to and shall be accompanied by the certificate of the building inspector of said city of the value in his judgment of such permanent building, and of the damages which in his judgment such grade will cause to said permanent building; and said building inspector shall examine said building and said change of grade, as so voted, [92]*92and make said certificate on the request of such owner of such building.

It is also therein provided that, if the city council deem it unwise to change the grade of such street on account of damages claimed, it may reconsider the vote by which such change of grade was made; but, if no such reconsideration is made within a certain time, five freeholders of said city are to be appointed by said city council to view the premises, and to ascertain and award the amount of damages and compensation to be paid to the owners of such permanent buildings who have filed such sworn notices and certificates of such building inspector, and to assess the amount of such damages and compensation upon the lands and property to be benefited by such improvement, in proportion to the benefits to be received by each parcel and without regard to a last valuation. The commissioners are then authorized to proceed as follows:

“They shall give notice by two publications in the official paper of said city, that they will, on a day designated in such notice, which shall be at least ten days after the first publication of such notice, meet at a place designated in said notice on or near the buildings which it is claimed shall have been damaged by such change in the grade of such street, and view the same, and ascertain and award therefor compensation and damages, and view the premises to be benefited by such improvement, and assess thereon, in proportion to benefits, the amount necessary to pay such compensation and damage, and that they will then and there hear such allegations and proofs as interested persons may offer. And such commissioners shall meet and view the premises pursuant to such notice, and may adjourn from time to time after having viewed the premises; may, for the hearing of evidence and the preparation of their award and assessment, adjourn or go to any other convenient place in said city, and may have the aid and advice of the city engineer and of any other officer of the city.
“After viewing the premises, and hearing the evidence offered,- such commissioners shall prepare and make a true and impartial appraisement and award of the compensation and damages to be paid to each person whose building shall have been damaged by such change of grade of such street. But. if the remainder of the property on which said buildings stand, or the remainder of the lot or parcel connected therewith, shall be benefited by such change of grade of such street, then the commissioners, in considering and awarding compensation and damages, shall also consider, estimate and offset the benefits which will accrue to the same owner in respect to the remainder of the [93]*93saíne property, and award him only the excess of the compensation or damages over and above such benefits. These said commissioners shall then assess the amount of such compensation and damages so awarded upon the land and real property benefited by such change of grade, and in proportion to such benefits, but in no case shall the amount of said assessment exceed the actual benefit to the lot or parcel of land, or other real property so assessed, deducting therefrom any damages or injuries to the same parcels which are less than such benefits, and assessing only the excess, and prepare and report to the city council their appraisement and award, and if, in the judgment of said commissioners, the whole amount of such compensation and damages, together with the cost of making such improvement, shall exceed the actual benefit to the specific property subject to assessment, they shall so indicate in their report, and shall state the amount of such excess.”

When the report is returned to the city council, it may confirm or send it back for further consideration, and in such case the commissioners may give further notice of the time and place of such consideration, and hear evidence and correct mistakes, if any; and, when such report is returned and filed, and confirmed, the award is final, there being ho appeal allowed therefrom. No greater award can be allowed than the amount claimed in the sworn notice. Under this law, and in compliance therewith, the city council of the city of Minneapolis changed the grade in Main street northeast in front of the petitioner’s tract of land hereinbefore described, and in doing so raised the street about 17\ feet, destroying the sidewalk built by her, and making it impossible for her to have access to her lot or building from said street. The commission awarded her $750 damages on account of such change in the grade.

One of the grounds upon which the petitioner challenges the validity of the proceedings is that Sp. Laws 1885, c. 5, is unconstitutional, in that the legislature attempted to establish an unwarranted and political method of ascertaining such damages, and not by judicial process. But the law is nearly uniform that an action will not lie at all against a city for consequential injuries to property caused by a change of the legally established grade, even where the changed grade of a street is raised to such a height in front of the owner’s property as to prevent access to it from the street. Henderson v. City, 32 Minn. 319, 20 N. W. 322, and authorities cited. This rule is too well settled to be disturbed, unless by legislative enactment. The petitioner, there[94]*94fore, did not have any constitutional or valid right to any damages by reason of the raising of the grade in front of her property, except through the legislative enactment, viz., Sp. Laws 1885, c. 5. No liability existing at common law or under the constitution in behalf of the petitioner against the city in such case, the affirmative remedy which was conferred upon her came from the statute which we have quoted. This right was not a cumulative, but a new one.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Electric Short Line Terminal Co. v. City of Minneapolis
64 N.W.2d 149 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1954)
Larson v. Trageser
184 N.W. 833 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1921)
State v. Board of Education
158 N.W. 635 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1916)
Dickerman v. City of Duluth
92 N.W. 1119 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1903)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
70 N.W. 851, 68 Minn. 89, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abel-v-city-of-minneapolis-minn-1897.