People v. City of San Rafael

This is an action brought in the name of the People of the State of California against the City of San Rafael, a municipal corporation, the members of its City Council, and the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, a corporation, seeking to set aside the action of the said City Council in closing and vacating a portion of a public street within said city, as a gross abuse of discretion, and as having been taken for the purpose of transferring such portion of a public street to a private corporation. After trial, judgment was entered for the defendants, and the plaintiff has appealed. As grounds for reversal, the appellant claims that the evidence shows the sole purpose of the City Council in closing said portion of a street to have been to facilitate the construction by the defendant railroad company of a new depot; that the law does not permit the granting of a street by a city to a railroad company; and that .the findings of the trial court that such action was in the interest of the public safety and convenience are not sustained by the evidence, and that the facts do not warrant the conclusions drawn therefrom.

The following pertinent facts are disclosed by the evidence : The City…