Wolff

The plaintiffs in these three cases appeal from several judgments rendered against them upon nonsuits granted on motion of the respondent municipality. The cases were consolidated for the purpose of the respective appeals, it being stipulated that the judgment in the Wolff case should control the determination of the other two appeals. The plaintiffs as owners of their respective lots of land sued for damages for injuries claimed to have been suffered by them by reason of the depreciation of the values of their lands caused, as they alleged, by the opening of North Broadway tunnel and the grading of the approaches thereto and of adjacent streets in the city of Los Angeles. Except in regard to the exact location of the respective properties, their values and the amount of depreciation, if any was caused by the opening of the tunnel, the facts of the three cases are the same and are unquestioned.

The work in question was done under ordinances adopted pursuant to a general act of the legislature permitting such work to be done by municipalities under the assessment plan. No question is presented concerning the power of the municipality to order the work to be done, nor of the…