Smith v. City of Miami
| Decision Date | 14 April 1920 |
| Citation | 79 Fla. 509,84 So. 379 |
| Parties | SMITH v. CITY OF MIAMI et al. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Dade County; H. Pierre Branning, Judge.
Suit for injunction by E. A. Smith against the City of Miami and others. Bill dismissed, and plaintiff appeals. Decree affirmed.
Syllabus by the Court
When a case is heard on bill and answer, all the pertinent averments of the answer are taken as true.
Where streets are 'perpetually dedicated to the free use of all purchasers of lots contained in the' dedication plat, and the streets are used by the public generally as public highways, and the city makes expenditures for lights grading, etc., on the streets with the consent and acquiescence of the abutting lot owners, the lot owners may be estopped from denying the right of the city to make sidewalk and other improvements in the streets as authorized by its charter.
COUNSEL Atkinson & Burdine, of Miami, for appellant.
Hudson Wolfe & Cason, of Miami, for appellees.
This suit was brought by E. A. Smith to enjoin the city from constructing or attempting to construct a sidewalk along and in front of stated property in the city upon the theory that the particular street is a private street and not a public street or highway. Upon a hearing on bill and answer the chancellor dismissed the bill of complaint, and the plaintiff appealed.
The recorded dedication plat of a subdivision called Edgewater now a part of the city of Miami, states that----
'The streets, avenues, drives and alleys indicated upon said plat, are hereby perpetually dedicated to the free use of all purchasers of lots contained in the above described plat.'
The answer, among other matters, avers that----
The streets 'have been dedicated to the use of the inhabitants of the city of Miami generally by the use that has been made of the same by said inhabitants with the consent of the lot owners in said subdivision, and defendants allege that shortly after March 30, 1912, the date on which said subdivision of Edgewater was platted and opened up that the various streets in said subdivision as marked upon said plat were opened to the general use of the inhabitants of the city of Miami, and from that date until the present time there has been free and unrestricted use of such streets and avenues, and other highways in said subdivision, as streets and highways by such inhabitants of the city of Miami, with the consent and acquiescence of said lot owners and in addition to such general use by all inhabitants of the city of Miami without let or hindrance from said lot owners or their agents and representatives in the city of Miami, the city of Miami acting in its public capacity and under its authority to care for and maintain the streets and highways of the municipality, has erected maintained and paid for numerous street lights within said subdivision, having same cared for daily by the city comployés and paying for the maintenance of same out of public funds, all with the consent and acquiescence of the lot owners in said subdivision, and that the engineering department...
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