Vallejo Ferry Co. v. City of Vallejo

This is an action to restrain the board of trustees of the city of Vallejo from constructing a wharf extending from the foot of Virginia Street into Mare Island Straits, a navigable body of water lying between said city and . Mare Island. The court decreed that defendants might proceed to erect the proposed wharf according to the prepared plans of defendants when modified in the manner designated in the decree and so as not to interfere with the enjoyment by plaintiffs of its ferry franchise.

Defendants appeal from the judgment and from the order denying their motion for a new trial. The action was begun in 1897 and was tried in 1899, but for some unexplained reason was not brought here until in April, 1904. There is but little, if any, controversy concerning the facts as shown by the evidence. The disagreement is rather as to the legal effect of the facts. Georgia and Virginia streets in the city of Vallejo are parallel, and run due east and west, terminating on the west at the water-front on Mare Island Straits, Georgia Street being next south of Virginia Street. Many years ago a wharf was extended from the foot of Virginia Street several hundred feet across the flats to deep…