Humphreys

By this action the ten parties plaintiff (appellants herein), residents and taxpayers of, and property owners in, the City and County of San Francisco, seek, on behalf of themselves and 1,700 other property owners, to enjoin the mayor and board of supervisors of said City and County from collecting assessments levied for the construction of a tunnel through Buena Vista Park, and through, over, and upon a portion of Duboce Park. Buena Vista Park lies on a high ridge of land separating that part of San Francisco lying easterly of the eastern portal of the proposed tunnel and generally known as the “down town section,” and a residential part of said city lying west of the western portal of said tunnel and known as the “Sunset district.” The purpose of the tunnel is to provide a way of rapid transit between these two sections of the city.

Proceedings were taken hy the board of supervisors under the provisions of the so-called “Tunnel Procedure Ordinance,” resulting in the assessments complained of. Authority for the enactment of this ordinance is found in certain charter amendments adopted by the electors of the City and County of San Francisco in December, 1912, and ratified by the…