Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. City of Cincinnati

12 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 65
CourtCourt of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County
DecidedNovember 7, 1911
StatusPublished

This text of 12 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 65 (Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. City of Cincinnati) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. City of Cincinnati, 12 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 65 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1911).

Opinion

Cushing, J.

The plaintiff in error filed a petition in the Insolvency Court of Hamilton County seeking to appropriate an easement over and across the streets and public landing, beginning at the east side of Broadway and extending west to the west line of Main street in the city of Cincinnati, for the purpose of erecting thereon an elevated railroad; the said railroad to extend from the company’s main track at its Newport and Cincinnati bridge to a tract of land owned by it, lying' west of Vine and south of Water streets in Cincinnati. The land in question is to be used by the railroad company for yard and freight depot purposes.

The court below dismissed the petition of the railroad company, and it now prosecutes error to reverse the finding of that court on the preliminary questions there presented.

In the court below, the railroad company did not offer any evidence tending to establish its inability to agree with the city of Cincinnati as to the value of the easement it sought to appropriate, nor did it offer any evidence of the necessity for the appropriation.

Counsel for the railroad company contend thát the city of Cincinnati has no power te agree with the railroad company as to the amount of money the company should pay for the easement it seeks to appropriate. This contention is based on a decision of the Supreme Court of Ohio, which will be considered hereafter.

Counsel for the railroad company also contend that it was not necessary to offer evidence under the fourth division of Section 6420, Revised Statutes, and assigned as a reason therefor that the Legislature of Ohio vested in the directors of the railroad company the power to determine the question of said necessity, that their determination is final and the court has no power to consider that question.

Counsel for the city of Cincinnati contend that the ordinance of the city council is invalid-: first, because it contains two distinct subjects of legislation; and second, in that it does not specify any terms and conditions for the occupancy of the city’s property and' 'that it includes property not dedicated to the city for a public landing.

[67]*67Counsel for interested property owners argue that Section 3283a is unconstitutional.

In determining the questions here presented, it will be necessary to consider the case of The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company v. City of Cincinnati, 76 O. S., 481; the case of City of Cincinnati v. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, 9 N.P.(N.S.), 433; and Sections 3283, 3283d, 6415 and 6420, Revised Statutes.

The source of all power of eminent domain is so well understood in this country that it would not be necessary to re-state it here if it were not for the fact that counsel seem to differ as to the extent of the power vested in this corporation by the Legislature. The state has a right in and a control over all highways, streets, alleys, avenues, public grounds, landings and wharves of whatever character or description, superior to that of any subdivision of such state, such as counties, townships and municipalities.

“Public streets, squares, landings and grounds are * * * under the absolute control of the legislative power of the state." Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. City of Cincinnati, 76 O. S., 481.

The power to appropriate property for public use under the law of eminent domain is in the state. That power is inherent in the state. The state may vest the same power in municipalities, in corporations public or private, and in some instances the same power may be delegated to private citizens. Such municipalities, corporations and citizens have only such power to appropriate property under the law of eminent domain as is delegated to them by the state. This delegation'of power must be either in express terms or by necessary implication. .

The Legislature, by duly enacted laws, has delegated to railroad companies, under eminent domain, the power to appropriate three classes of property: first, private property; second, such public property as falls within the class specified in Section 3283, Revised Statutes; a*nd third, such other public property as is specified in Section 3283a, Revised Statutes.

■ Section 3283. “ If it be necessary, in the location of any part of a railroad owned or operated by a domestic or foreign cor[68]*68poration to occupy with a surface or elevated track, with the necessary supports therefor, any public road, street, alley, way or ground of any kind, or any part thereof, the municipal or other corporation or public officers or authorities, owning or having charge thereof, and the company, may agree upon the manner, terms and conditions upon which the same may be used or occupied, and in the event of the occupancy of any such ground with an elevated track such agreement shall specify the number, character and location of all supports for such track, any part of which shall be upon such public ground, and the vertical and longitudinal clearances between such supports, and if the parties be unable to agree théreon, and it be necessary in the judgment of the directors of such company, to use or occupy such road, street, alley, way or ground, or any part thereof, for surface tracks, or for crossing with an elevated structure when no piers, supports, or obstructions are to be placed therein; such company may appropriate so much of the same as may be necessary for the purposes of its road in the manner and upon the same terms as is provided for the appropriation of the property of individuals; but every company which lays a track upon or over any such street, alley, road or ground, or part thereof, shall be responsible for injuries done thereby to private or -public property lying upon or near to such ground, which may be recovered by civil action brought by the owner before the proper court, at any time within two years from the completion of such track. Provided, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed as authorizing the grant of the right to occupy any public street, avenue or alley, longitudinally by an elevated track, except in so far as the same may be necessary to accommodate a curve in the line of the elevated track, and in that case no supports shall be placed in the roadway of the street, avenue or alley, between the curb lines thereof, and in no case shall such longitudinal occupancy of the street, avenue, or alley, exceed three hundred (300) feet in length.”

Section 3283a. “If it be necessary, in the judgment of the board of directors of any domestic or foreign corporation owning or operating a railroad wholly or partly within the state of Ohio, to use and occupy for an elevated track any portion of any public ground lying within the limits of any municipality and dedicated to the public for use as a public ground, common, landing or wharf, or for any other public purpose, excepting all streets, avenues, alley, or public road, such company may appropriate an easement over so much of such ground as may be necessary for such purpose, including the right to maintain the necessary piers and supports for said elevated track; but such [69]*69appropriation shall be limited to such an easement as is necessary for the construction, maintenance and uses of such elevated track, in accordance with the plans hereinafter provided for.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
12 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 65, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louisville-nashville-railroad-v-city-of-cincinnati-ohctcomplhamilt-1911.