Pennsylvania Act 1935-110 — STREETS, FIRST CLASS CITIES

Act text

STREETS, FIRST CLASS CITIES
                  Act of May 29, 1935, P.L. 255, No. 110              Cl. 11
                                  AN ACT

     Providing for the laying out, widening, extending, and
        relocating by cities of the first class of highways and
        streets connecting with, or used as direct approaches to,
        bridges crossing streams or tunnels under streams, which form
        boundaries between this and any other state, and for the
        construction thereof and of appurtenances thereto;
        authorizing the acquisition by gift, purchase, or
        condemnation, of land and property therefor, and of
        additional land and property in connection therewith not
        needed for actual construction; providing for the acquisition
        of a fee simple title; authorizing the use, sale, or leasing,
        subject to restrictions by the city, of additional land and
        property acquired; and the erection, occupation, use, sale,
        or leasing of buildings and structures thereon by the city;
        and authorizing and prescribing the procedure for the
        assessment of damages and benefits.

        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That the work "improvement,"
     as used in this act, shall mean and include any highways or
     streets connecting with, or used as direct approaches to,
     bridges crossing streams or tunnels under streams, which form
     boundaries between this and any other state, together with
     viaducts carrying such highways or streets over other highways
     or streets or over other property, and any ramps and approaches
     and other structures and superstructures in connection
     therewith.
        Section 2.  Any city of the first class may lay out, widen,
     extend, or relocate highways and streets connecting with, or
     used as direct approaches to, bridges crossing streams or
     tunnels under streams, which form boundaries between this and
     any other state, and construct the same, either at, above, or
     below grade, together with such viaducts carrying such highways
     and streets over other highways and streets and over other
     property, and such ramps and approaches and such other
     structures and superstructures in connection therewith, as in
     the discretion of the council of such city, shall be necessary
     or convenient: Provided, That any such improvement shall in all
     cases follow substantially the course of the existing streets of
     such city which are in the most nearly direct continuous line
     with such bridge or tunnel.
        Section 3.  Any city of the first class undertaking any
     improvement, authorized by the foregoing section, may acquire
     any land and property necessary therefor, either by gift,
     purchase, or the exercise of the power of eminent domain. Such
     city may also, in like manner, acquire and take more land and
     property than is needed for the actual construction of such
     improvements, or any of them; but the additional land and
     property, so taken, shall not be more than sufficient to form
     suitable building sites on such highways or streets, nor shall
     such additional land and property be acquired at any point more
     than three miles distant from the approach to any such bridge or
     tunnel. The title, which the city shall acquire to all land and
     property under the provisions of this section, shall be fee
     simple absolute.
        Section 4.  Additional land and property shall be acquired by
     the city in connection with an improvement only when the title
     acquired for the improvement shall be in fee. The acquisition of
     title to additional land and property, in connection with an
     improvement, shall be authorized in the same manner and at the
     same time as the acquisition of title to the land and property
     required for the improvement is authorized. When the acquisition
     of title to additional land and property in connection with an
     improvement is authorized, title to such additional land and
     property shall be acquired by the city in the manner, and
     according to the procedure (except in such respects as are
     herein set forth) provided for the acquisition of title to land
     and property required for the improvement, and in the same
     proceeding in which title to the land and property required for
     the improvement is acquired.
        Section 5.  Every ordinance, which shall authorize the
     acquisition of additional land and property in connection with
     any improvement, shall provide that the department of public
     works shall make a plain and accurate map, showing the land and
     property to be acquired for the improvement, and such additional
     land and property to be acquired in connection with the land and
     property to be acquired for the improvement. When additional
     land and property is to be taken by condemnation, the petition
     for the appointment of viewers shall separately describe such
     additional land and property to be so taken, and shall state
     what part of the land and property to be condemned is required
     for the improvement and what part thereof is to be acquired as
     additional land and property. The acquisition of such additional
     land and property, when duly authorized, shall be deemed to be
     for a public purpose.
        Section 6.  Whenever proceedings are begun by the city under
     the condemnation law to acquire any land and property, or any
     interest therein, in which proceedings additional land and
     property is to be acquired, the court, in which such proceedings
     are pending, may, at any stage of such proceedings, authorize
     the city to continue in possession of such additional land and
     property, or any part of the same, or to take immediate
     possession thereof, or any part thereof, in the same manner now
     authorized by law in connection with the land and property
     required for such improvement. Title to such additional land and
     property shall vest in the city at the same time, and subject to
     the same conditions as apply to other lands and property
     acquired for the improvement.
        Section 7.  Whenever an ordinance has been duly adopted for
     the purpose of any improvement provided for in section one of
     this act, such ordinance may be amended by authorizing the
     acquisition of land and property additional to that required for
     the improvement. All provisions of law, now applying to the
     payment by the city for land and property taken under the
     provisions of this act, shall apply with reference to the
     payment for additional land and property taken hereunder.
        Section 8.  After title to the land and property required for
     the improvement and to the additional land and property shall
     have vested in the city, the additional land and property may be
     either held and used by the city, or sold or leased by it.
        Such additional land and property may be held and used by the
     city for any purpose authorized by existing law, or the council
     may authorize the erection thereon of buildings or other
     structures, and the occupation and use thereof by the city for
     any purpose which the city is authorized to use the same, or the
     leasing or sale thereof. either in whole or in part.
        The council shall provide that such additional land and
     property, and any buildings or other structures erected thereon
     by the city, shall be sold or leased subject to such
     restrictions, covenants, or conditions as to location of
     buildings with reference to the land and property acquired for
     the improvement, or the height of buildings or structures, or
     the character of construction and architecture thereof, or such
     other covenants, conditions, or restrictions as will preserve or
     enhance the benefit to the public of the land, any property
     actually needed for the public use provided for in section one
     of this act, and such additional land and property shall be sold
     or leased subject to such restrictions, covenants, or conditions
     as may be prescribed, which shall be set forth in the instrument
     of conveyance or lease.
        Section 9.  In every proceeding in which land and property
     additional to those required for the improvement are acquired,
     the council shall have power by ordinance to provide that the
     whole of the expense of any such improvements be assessed upon
     the property benefited, or that the whole or a portion of such
     expense (which shall be specified in such ordinance) be borne by
     the city at large, and the remainder, if any, assessed upon the
     property benefited.
        Section 10.  Where part of any land and property is acquired
     for an improvement, and the remainder, or a portion of the
     remainder thereof, in the same ownership, is acquired in the
     same proceeding as additional land and property, the portion of
     the damages, due to the acquisition of the land and property
     required for the improvement, shall be determined and stated
     separately from the entire damage due to each such owner. In
     determining the damage due to the acquisition of that portion of
     such land and property which is required for the improvement,
     the same rule shall be applied as would govern the determination
     of damages for the taking of the land and property required for
     the improvement in case no additional land and property were
     acquired. Where part of any land and property is acquired for
     the improvement, and the remainder, or a portion of the
     remainder thereof, in the same ownership, is acquired in the
     same proceeding as additional land and property, the damages due
     to the acquisition of title to the land and property required
     for the improvement shall, in every case, equal the amount which
     would be awarded to such owner in case only that part of his
     land and property which is required for the improvement were
     acquired.
        The aggregate of damages, due to the acquisition of the land
     and property required for the improvement, shall be determined
     by the court or other tribunal authorized to determine the
     compensation to be paid to the owners, and, when so determined,
     be assessed as a part of the damages in the proceeding.
        Section 11.  The provisions of this act shall be construed as
     supplementing and extending the effect of the provisions of the
     general law relating to the acquisition of land and property by
     cities of the first class, so as to provide for the acquisition
     of title to additional land and property in connection with an
     improvement; and nothing in this act contained shall be
     construed as limiting the effect of the provisions of such
     general laws in their application to the acquisition of title to
     land and property required for an improvement when acquired in a
     proceeding in which additional land and property shall or shall
     not be acquired, except as the provisions of such general laws
     are in this act expressly so limited in their application.
        Section 12.  The provisions of this act shall be severable,
     and if any of the provisions shall be held to be
     unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of
     any of the remaining provisions of this act. It is hereby
     declared as the legislative intent that this act would have been
     adopted had such unconstitutional provisions not been included
     therein.
        Section 13.  The provisions of this act shall become
     effective immediately upon its final enactment.