Raisch

The regents of the University of California were, on April 1, 1911, and still are, the owners of an irregular shaped block of land in the city and county of San Francisco, bounded by First Avenue, Parnassus Avenue, Kirkham, sometimes called K, Street, and Fourth Avenue, embracing about thirteen and one-half acres of land. Raisch, a street contractor, did street work, consisting of grading and sewer construction, on Fourth Avenue along the entire front of the university property, and also upon the intersections of that avenue with Kirkham Street and Parnassus Avenue. This work was done under a resolution of intention of the board of public works, providing for the assessment of its cost on property fronting on the improvement. Legal steps followed leading to an assessment for the cost of all this work. The entire tract of land belonging to the university was assessed to pay $3,681. The entire tract having been so assessed, the plaintiff in his amended complaint sought to foreclose not upon the whole of the university’s property, but upon the Fourth Avenue frontage to a depth of 120 feet only.

The trial court sustained defendants’ demurrer to the amended complaint, raising…