52 Iowa 460 | Iowa | 1879
In that case the court adopted the following rule: “"When the proprietors of undedicated town property, being locally within the corporate limits, hold such close proximity to the settled and improved parts of the town that the corporate authorities cannot open and improve its streets and alleys, and extend to the inhabitants thereof its usual police regulations and advantages, without incidentally benefiting- such proprietors in their personal privileges and accommodations, or in
We.think the court below did not err in holding .that the land ol‘ the plaintiffs was taxable for city purposes within the above rule. It appears that some of the streets in Stewart’s Addition, which have their terminii upon the west line of plaintiffs’ land, have been worked and improved by the city to some extent. Many of the lots in Stewart’s Addition have been improved by the erection of dwelling houses thereon. Some of these buildings are situated quite near the plaintiffs’ land. From twenty to thirty families reside within two blocks of the west line. There is a church, and one of the city school houses, within two blocks. The eastern part of the city has doubled its population in the last eight years, and Stewart’s Addition, as one of the witnesses expresses it, “has had its portion of improvements.” It also appears from the evidence that one of the plaintiffs at one time stated that he intended to divide the land into lots just as soon as he could get “ big enough figures for it.” These facts, and others disclosed in the evidence, lead us to the conclusion that the city cannot improve its streets leading to the plaintiffs’ property without incidentally enhancing its value as city property, and that the growth of the city in that direction will produce the same result.
II. A question is made by defendant as to whether it is, liable in any event for municipal taxes illegally levied and collected by its treasurer, and by him paid over to the city authorities. This question we need not determine, as we have found that the land was subject to taxation. Upon this subject see Butler v. The Board of Supervisors, 46 Iowa, 326.
Affirmed.