The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-08

! the land from the board. Under and by virtue
OF the provisions OF an act OF the Legisiatu th
of this State entitled can act to authorize tne
| Board of Supervisors of the City and County OF
| San Francisco to lease school lot In SAID CITY
and County, and TO authorize the issuance OF
school bonds for the purchase of sites and the
erection of school buildings in said CITY ana
| County," approved March 80, 1874, the Board
| of Supervisors leased to various persons por-
| ton of the school lot known as the Lincoln
school lot on the southeast corner OF Market
| and Fifth streets, for the term of twenty years.
commencing September l, 1879. The lana
| leased has frontage of 275 feet on Market
street. by uniform depth of 100 feet. All &C
| ton authorized to be taken by the Board of
| Supervisors, under the provisions of the act OF
| the Legislature before mentioned, has been
| taken, except the collection of the rents from
| the lessees until September l, 1895, and the
| disbursement of the balance of the special
| school fund for the purpose OF purchasing
| control and management of the Lincoln School
| lot by the Board of Supervisors will therefore
| cease when the present leases expire on Sep
| TENDER 1 next; and the lot will then come
| under the control of the Board of Education,
under the general provisions of the consoilda-
ton act. An act of the Legislature of this
State, entitled ''An act to provide for the sup
| port of the common schools of the City and
| County of San Francisco and to define the
powers and duties of the Board of Education
| thereof" approved April l, 1872, contains the
| following provision:
"Section /. The Board of Education of the
| City and County of San Francisco shall have
|
eleventh. To lease, for term not exceed
| ing ten years, any unoccupied property OF the
| School Department not required for school pur-
| poses"
| 1t will therefore be seen that the power to
| lease the Lincoln School lot, after the expira-
ton of the present leases, rests in the Board OF
| Education, and that the term for which 1T may
| lease the land is limited to ten years. Your
| committee favors releasing the lot at the ex-
! piration of the present leases, and recon-
| mends, in accordance with the petition OF the
hat anti hC T1ntu fQ L ~
| the matter by the board for the reasons
| stated in said petition. The act OF the
| Legislature first referred TO in this report re-
| quired that before leasing the lot in the first
| instance an advertisement be published for
! the period of thirty days in two daily news
| papers soliciting sealed proposals for the use
| of the lot, either as whole or divided into
smaller plats, Your committee deems 1t for
| the best Interests of the department that this
| course be followed at the present time and
| therefore recommends the adoption Of the
| following resolution
| WHEREAS, The leases granted by the Board of
| Supervisors under the provisions of an act OF
| the Legislature approved March 30, 1874, OF
| that portion OF the school lot on the southeast
| corner of Market and Fifth streets, 275 feet on
| Market street by uniform depth of 100 feet,
will expire on the first day of September, 1895 (;
| and whereas the said portion of the said school
| lot is not now required for public school pur-
poses and will not be so required at the expira-
ton of the present leases; therefore be it
| ReSolVed-First-That the secretary of this
board be directed to advertise for the period of
| thirty days in two daily newspapers in the
| City and County of San Francisco for sealed
proposal Is Tor the use of said lot OF land for the
| term OF ten years, and that the lot shall be
| leased to the highest responsible bidder or
| bidders.
Second-That proposals be solicited for a
| lease of the lot as whole and for subdivisions
| each with a frontage of twenty-five feet on
Market street, with depth oil 100 feet.
| Third-That proposals be received by the
| board at its regular meeting, to be held July
| TO- 1895.
| In order that there may be no doubt in the
minds of the members of the board as to the
ownership of the improvements now upon the
| portion OF the Lincoln School lot to be leased
your committee recommends that this matter
| be referred to the Committee on Judiciary,
with instructions to examine present leases
and the laws pertaining thereto and to report
| to the board as to such ownership at an early
| day. H. T. SCOTT,
Z. P. BARRETT,
c. A. CLINTON.
Acting upon the suggestion contained in
| the last paragraph of the above report, the
| Judiciary Committee proceeded to care
| full examination of the subject, the result
| of which is embodied in a voluminous
communication to the board, which con-
cludes with a recommendation that the
whole matter be submitted to the City and
County Attorney. This committee de-
clares in its report that neither the act
under which the leases were made, nor
ion as to the ownership of improvements
at the time of the expiration of the leases.
| Many cases bearing only slight SINH
larity to the one under consideration are
cited and a good deal of law quoted. The
members of the Judiciary Committee con-
| clude their report by saying that in their
| opinion the Improvements made on the
| property cannot be removed, having be-
come part of the realty, but in view of the
| large interests involved they ask that the
matter be referred to the proper authority.
Accompanying this communication was
asupplemental report which stated that
since the preparation of the first report
passed by the Supervisors on May A. 1874,
directing its clerk to advertise for sealed
proposals for the lease of the property in
| question, also the advertisement pub
ished by the Supervisors June Is, 1874,
calling for facts, together with the resolu-
ton of award passed by the board Novem-
| Der % of the same year.
The committee calls attention to the fact
that the notice calling for bids contains
| the following provision:
Gall Improvements on said lots, unless
purchased by the City and County, shall
be removed at the expiration of the lease
| by the owners thereof upon thirty days
| notice being given by tie Mayor OF the
City and County, and if not so removed
prior 10 eAplrdtlt Vi SdIu ledse tHe rlSHI
shall be forfeited and the ownership of
the same shall revert to the City and
County of San Francisco"
Continuing the report says.
at is general rule of law that a written
| instrument cannot be contradicted or al
tered in its terms by oral testimony, but
must be construed by itself and 1t must
speak for itself as to the intention of the
parties to it, also that if the leases were
made To parties upon the faith of q notice
| inviting bids which provided that the i'm
provements should belong to tenants, it
would be manifestly unjust for the City
and County to take advantage of techni-
| cality."
The supplemental report concluded like
the first in recommending that the matter
be turned over to the City and County At
torney for his opinion.