Atl. City v. Associated Realties Corp.

• Citation: 67 A. 937,72 N.J.E. 634
• Parties: ATLANTIC CITY v. ASSOCIATED REALTIES CORPORATION.
• Decision Date: 10 October 1907
• Court: New Jersey Court of Chancery

67 A. 937

72 N.J.E. 634

ATLANTIC CITY

v. ASSOCIATED REALTIES CORPORATION.

Court of Chancery of New Jersey.

Oct. 10, 1907.

Bill by Atlantic City against the Associated Realties Corporation. Bill dismissed.

Godfrey & Godfrey, Harry Wootton, and James E. Howell, for complainant. Thompson & Cole, for defendant.

BERGEN, V. C. I will dispose of this matter now. It appears that the grantors, or the predecessors in title of these defendants, were the owners of a shore front extending southerly from the Board Walk at Atlantic City, and that they made a deed to the city of Atlantic City, referred to here as the "Easement deed," for the purpose, as read it, of conveying to the city of Atlantic City practically the control and substantial ownership of all the shore front, reserving, however, to the grantors a right to build a pier on the property conveyed, and to connect it with the Board Walk, upon condition that the pier should be at least 1,000 feet in length and constructed of iron or steel, and upon the further condition that they should not permit the sale of any commodities upon the pier, "and be confined to charging only an entrance fee."

What these defendants are doing, as appears from the evidence produced before me, is to charge an entrance fee of 10 cents to their pier, which has a portion of it devoted to roller skating, but, as I understand from the evidence, no person having paid an entrance fee is prohibited from going into this part of the pier. There is a walk or promenade around the room, with galleries from which a view of the floor and of the persons skating may be had open to everybody, and the skating floor itself is open to everybody willing to take the chance of keeping out of the way of the persons skating. It appears that the witnesses brought here to substantiate the complaint, after paying the entrance fee of 10 cents, applied for a pair of skates. They made no application for admission to the room or part of the building used for skating. That was open to all for the entrance fee paid for admission to the pier. They merely asked for the use of a pair of skates, and were told that, to get a pair of skates, they must go back to the booth at the entrance and get other tickets. I think it makes no difference where they were sent to get the tickets for the skates, or where they were sent to get the skates. That is a convenient method of accounting which the owner adopts. If you want to gain an entrance on the pier, you will have to pay 10 cents. If you want a pair of skates, then you will have to get a ticket, and you will have to...