167 Pa. 1 | Pa. | 1895
Opinion by
The plaintiff is the owner of a tract of land lying in the outskirts of the city of Philadelphia containing thirty-six acres. It is irregular in shape. Its surface has not been graded. No streets have been opened through it by the city or the owner. At one of its angles it has a front of four hundred feet on Bridge street. This street has been depressed by the action of the city in order to avoid a grade crossing of the Phila. and Trenton railroad, whose tracks adjoin the plaintiff’s land. This was a proceeding to determine the damages suffered by the plaintiff
Such a pronunciamiento is not within the powers or duties of a municipal government and it would confer no rights and impose no obligations. Resolutions and ordinances directing the opening and grading of streets no matter how clearly or strongly they show the purpose of the city at the date of their passage, may be modified or repealed to-morrow, and property
The judgment is reversed and venire facias de novo awarded.