The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-09-15

determines:
'First-What were the original boun-
daries of the town of Oakland under the
act incorporating 1t May 4, 1852.
"Second-What within these boundaries
was the water front ceied by the State at
that time to the town OF 0Ikand.
"The court determines that the boun-
daries of the old town OF Oakland went
no farther east than the eastern side OF
the northern arm of the estuary, cutting
across the estuary and Brooklyn Basin by
an imaginary line running to the ordi-
nary tide line on the south side of the
estuary, and that to the west the oun-
daries OF the town went no farther west
ward, that is waterward, tnan the line OF
ordinary low tide, which is about half
mile off shore from IVES; Oakland.
"Carpentier and his grantees, the prl-
vale claimants, have claimed that the
boundaries OF the original town of Oak
land and of the water front included all OF
the north arm Ct the estuary, all OF Brook
Ign Basin and all the bed OF the estuary
of San Antonio and the bed Of the bay OF
San Francisco, from three to five miles OF
shore front on line called ship channel,
which was seven miles long, running
northwest and southeast TO a few hun
dred yards east of Goat Island.
The area thus claimed IN private
ownership was about twelve and a half
SQUARE miles. nearly the whole of which
was continually covered by tide water;
that Is, it constituted the bed OF the
estuary, of tie Brooklyn Basin, and even
so much OF the bed as lay waterward from
low tide land out to ship channel, said 10
be the line covered by eighteen feet of
water at low tide, or by twenty-five feet OF
water twice a day.
The Supreme Court construed the
words ship channel not to mean anv
particular depth of water. such as will al
ford ships of any particular draft to float,
but to mean ordinary Iow-tide lands; that
is. the outer edge of the mud fats, narrow
or wide, as that might be.
at results from this holding of the Ian
guage of the act incorporating the town
of Oakland and the ceding the water
front TO that town that the water front, as
now defined, means only the tide lands or
mud fats lying off shore. between the
shore line o. ordinary high-tide and low.
tide land, as the daily tide recedes to the
ordinary low tide level.
These mud flats are a strip varying
from perhaps fifty feet TO 900 feet wide, a
little wider opposite Oak and Fallon
streets, and then in IRREGULAR patches and
strips from ten feet wide to perhaps 100
feet or more along the southern frontage
OF the present city OF Oakland, being tho
mud fats on the northern side of the
estuary. and then the widening strip of
mud flats or sand bottom of West Oak
laud, which varies in Width from a few
hundred feet TO about half a mile, extend
ing northward TO point about opposite
Twenty-second street, the old northern
boundary of the town OF Oakland.
80 the private claimants may hold of
the twelve and half square miles they
claimed about one-tenth of il. All the
remainder, the court holds, was never
parted with by the State 10 the town, and
therefore never parted with by the town
TO any private claimant.
1t viii be observed that this follows
from the courts construction and defini-
tion Of the words ship channel ana the
other descriptive words in The original
act OF 1852.
las to the Brooklyn Basin the court
holds that none OF that was ever ceded to
the town or transferred to any private
claimant so Tat there the private claim
ants do not have even the strip between
low and high tide on either the Brooklyn
side or he Alameda side.
From this decision it will be seen that
the water front company or any private
claimant to any of the actual water 'front.'
age OF OAKLAND is awarded only the mud
fats inside Qandward( of the naviga bic
wafer front, and the positions OF tae pub
lie and private claimants are reversed.
Instead OF the private claimants surround
ing the public by private ownership, the
public ownership and control now sur
rounds the private claimants.
This enables the State, either through
Board OF Harbor Commissioners or by
any municipal agency it may choose, to
control, develop and improve the whole of
Oakland navigable water front from or
binary Iow-tide land westward into the
waters of the bay west of Oakland and in
the estuary south OF Oakland.
''All the wharfage, dockage, tolls and
profit TO be derived from this eutire nayi-
gable water front, seven or eight miles in
extent will now be the profits OF the State
7 be Stale, without cost 10 itself, can i'm
prove this water front, as it has been and
IS doing on the water front of San Fran
cisco. The result of this decision is to
place the mudhats in Oakland in the same
position eovernmentally as the water lots
in San Francisco.
Between low-tide land and high-tide
land there is this strip, varying in wild tb,
which is allowed to the water front COM
pany, subject to all rights of streets and
and public places which, on April 2, 1868,
was dedicated To the public. Just what
streets and public places then were
abutting upon the shore on that day in
1868 will, OF course require an examina-
ton to ascertain.
Either the CITY of Oakland or any
business organization authorized TO con-
denim land for streets, railroads or any
public use can condemn rights of way
across these mud fats, and when they
have crossed this strip they have reached
the public water front belonging to and
under the control of the State of Cali
tornia.
Nearly the whole present mole and the
long wharf and the narrow gauge wharf
are outside of low-tide lands, Including