Cohen v. Cleveland

43 Ohio St. (N.S.) 190
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 15, 1885
StatusPublished

This text of 43 Ohio St. (N.S.) 190 (Cohen v. Cleveland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cohen v. Cleveland, 43 Ohio St. (N.S.) 190 (Ohio 1885).

Opinion

Okey, J.

Elias Cohen, on August 30, 1879, brought suit in the court of common pleas of Cuyahoga county, against the city of Cleveland, for injuries to his real estate, which it is alleged he sustained by reason of the construction of a bridge, commonly called the viaduct, across the Cuyahoga river. An answer and a reply were filed, and on the trial testimony was offered tending to show that the plaintiff was entitled to a verdict; but it appearing that the plaintiff' had filed no claim for damages in accordance with the municipal code, § 564, 66 Ohio L. 245 (75 Ohio L. 324, Rev. Stats., § 2315), the court, in effect, directed a verdict against him, w'hich was returned accordingly. Judgment was rendered on the verdict, and the district court having affirmed the judgment, this petition in error was filed to reverse as well the judgment of the court of common pleas as that of the district court.

. The city of Cleveland', situated upon Lake Erie, is divided by the Cuyahoga river, which runs north to the lake. Superior street, for more than sixty years one of the principal [192]*192thoroughfares of the place, extends westwardly to the river, crossing Water street, which is pai’allel with the river, and distant about 768 feet .therefrom. Midway between Water street and the river, the premises of Cohen are situated. His lot, fronting twentj'-two and one-half feet on the street, has a depth of ninety feet, and his house is a three-story brick with stone basement. The street at this point is ninety-three feet wide. At the time the alleged grievance was committed, Cohen was and he continued to be sole owner of the premises and in possession.

The viaduct is a magnificent structure, extending from Water street,,above mentioned, to Pearl street near its junction with Dayton street on the other side of the river, and its roadway is nearly level. Its width is sixty-four feet, and it is so constructed as to accommodate travel of every sort. In order to construct this work, the city condemned a strip of ground on the south side of Superior street extending from Water street to the river, and the viaduct covers that strip to the width of thirty-seven feet opposite Cohen’s premises, and also covers part of Superior street, such part opposite Cohen’s premises being twenty-seven feet in width on the south side of the street. The elevation from the roadway of the viaduct to the surface of Superior street gradually increases from Water street to the river, and in front of Cohen’s property the elevation is forty-five feet.

The viaduct was constructed in 1877 and 1878, and the authority for building it is found in the act of 1872 (69 Ohio L. 138; 3 Rev. Stats. 616), and the act of 1876 (73 Ohio L. 107; 3 Rev. Stats. 617). These acts are supplementary to the municipal code; no objection which has been urged against their validity in this case is tenable; and in our judgmentthose acts, in connection with the municipal code, contain ample power for the erection of such structure. Hence, the viaduct can not be, in contemplation of law, a nuisance, but is a lawful structure ; and there is no complaint that there was negligence, malice, or bad faith which caused injury to the plaintiff.

But the right of Cohen to damages is not determined ad[193]*193versely to him by these facts. He is not entitled' to compensation under the letter of the constitution, article 1, section 19, but may be entitled to such compensation in analogy to that provision. Injuries resulting from the change of established grades in streets, though made in accordance with the statute, and without negligence or malice, and other injuries of a kindred character, have been held to afford ground for the recovery of damages against municipal corporations. Rhodes v. Cincinnati, 10 Ohio, 159; McComb v. Akron, 15 Ohio, 479 ; s. c., sub nom. Akron v. McComb, 18 Ohio, 229; s. c., 51 Am. Dec. 453; Crawford v. Delaware, 7 Ohio St. 459; Youngstown v. Moore, 30 Ohio St. 133; Keating v. Cincinnati, 38 Ohio St. 141. And see Little Miami R. Co. v. Naylor, 2 Ohio St. 235; Street Railway v. Cumminsville, 14 Ohio St. 523; Richards v. Cincinnati, 31 Ohio St. 506 ; Story v. N. Y. Elevated R. Co., 90 N. Y. 122. This court has, however, constantly acknowledged that McComb v. Akron, and cases following it, is a departure from the current of authority elsewhere; and, although these eases have not found favor with the judges delivering the opinions in Radcliff v. Brooklyn, 4 N. Y. 195 ; s. c., 53 Am. Dec. 357, 366, note; Hill v. Boston, 122 Mass. 344, 378; Alexander v. Milwaukee, 16 Wis. 247,256; Transportation Co. v. Chicago, 99 U. S. 635, we are entirely content with the doctrine, and would not change it if we could. But the justice of the Ohio rule, the firmness with which it has been adhered to for nearly half a eentutv, and the manner in 'which it is recognized and enforced in our statutes, have established the doctrine as a rule of property, and it is now too late to inquire whether McComb v. Akron was properly decided. In other states, the same rule is in part or wholly adopted by constitutional or statutory provision.

If we look alone to the allegations in the plaintiff’s petition, and the facts which the evidence tended to establish in his favor, a far stronger ground of recovery was shown than in either of the Ohio cases cited. Ye have seen that the roadway of the viaduct, in front of Cohen’s premises, [194]*194is forty-five'feet above the surface of Superior street; and it is averred, and there was evidence given tending to show that the viaduct, to some extent, shuts out light and air from his premises ; that by reason of the viaduct, dust and other obnoxious substances are constantly thrown on the premises of plaintiff and on persons passing along the street; that there is constant noises and jarring his premises, day and night, by reason of travel on the viaduct; that the viaduct has diverted travel from that part of Superior street between Water street and the river; and that by reason of the premises the value of the plaintiff's property and his rents have been reduced one-half. True, evidence was offered by the city tending to show there was no ground of recovery, and therefore it was for the jury to determine in whose favor the evidence preponderated. But while the title to the street is in the city, it must be remembered that the abutting owner has a special interest in the street, which the law will not only recognize but protect. The court below seemed to recognize this view as correct, but the learned judge who presided at the trial virtually directed a verdict for the defendant, as already stated, upon, the ground that plaintiff had failed to comply with the municipal code, section 564 (Rev. Stats., § 2315), and the question before us is whether in so directing the jury there was error.

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Related

Transportation Co. v. Chicago
99 U.S. 635 (Supreme Court, 1879)
Radcliff's Executors v. . Mayor, C. of Brooklyn
4 N.Y. 195 (New York Court of Appeals, 1850)
Story v. . New York Elevated R.R. Co.
90 N.Y. 122 (New York Court of Appeals, 1882)
People v. King
28 Cal. 265 (California Supreme Court, 1865)
Hill v. City of Boston
122 Mass. 344 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1877)
Holt v. City Council
127 Mass. 408 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1879)
Alexander v. City of Milwaukee
16 Wis. 247 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1862)
Fass v. Seehawer
19 N.W. 533 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1884)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
43 Ohio St. (N.S.) 190, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cohen-v-cleveland-ohio-1885.