The Savannah morning news., 1901-06-29
PAVING is STOPPED
JUDGE SPEER ISSUED ORDER
AGAINST CASTOR STREET WORK.
DIRECTING PROPERTY OWNERS
DROUGHT THE ACTION AGAINST
THE MAYOR AND ALDERMEN.

He Had Secured Temporary In
junction-Mayor and City Attorney
Were Given NOtice-Case Is Owens
ct. nj. VS.. the Mayor and Alder
men-Hon. Pope Barrow Discusses
decentralization Rights of Own
ers of Abutting Property Are As
sailed by the Ordinance, He Says.
A temporary injunction, restraining the
city from putting a new pavement on
CASTOR street. has been secured through
the United States Court of the Southern
District of Georgia. Capt David c. Bar
row presented the bill upon which the pc
tition for injunction was based before
Judge Emory Speer at Mt. Airy day be-
fore yesterday, and yesterday morning he
telegraphed from Atlanta to Hon. Pope
Barrow, his father and legal partner in
Savannah, that the injunction had been
granted.
No other information reached the Sa-
vannah parties at interest. It was not
known when the hearing to determine
whether the injunction should be perma-
nent would be held; it is presumed, how
ever, that it will be within thirty days.
Associated with Messrs. Barrow & Bar
row on the case are Messrs. Lawton &
| Cunningham, Mr.. w. H. Wade and Mr..
| George w. Owens, all representing the
majority property owners of that section
Of CASTOR street that it is designed to
pave with vitrified brick. A conference of
the attorneys resulted in their determin-
| ing that the best plan for fighting the
ordinance passed by the City Council some
weeks ago for paving CASTOR street wouli
| be to secure an injunction in the United
| States Court. One idea had been to wait
| until the pavement had been laid and then
| contest the payment of the assessments.
This, however, was given over, the pre-
| ponderance of opinion having been
| against it,
Notice to the effect that the injunctf IN
had been granted was sent by Mr.. Pope
Barrow to the Mayor and to Mr. S. B.
Adams, the city attorney. Mayor Myers,
| when seen, said that the city would fight
| the issue before Judge Speer and would
employ its best efforts ito prevent the in
| junction being made permanent The
| courts, the Mayor said, have really no
cause TO intervene in such a question of
municipal administration, and he believes
| that the city will win the case.
| The Mayor occupies an unique position.
He was opposed to the CASTOR street
| paving measure from it's inception, be-
! lievlng that the city should rather re-
| store the present shell pavement than
replace it with brick or asphalt. His an
| tagonism went so far as to cause him
to veto the ordinance, which was passed,
| however, over his veto, not a single mem
Der of the Board of Aldermen voting 10
sustain him. The Mayor now finds him
self representing the city, however and
the city has declared for paving He
| said that he would not allow his personal
| views to influence him in the issue that
has arisen, but that he will lend every
energy to the fight on the citys behalf.
The city attorney will also find himself
in the position of representing the city
| in the effort to secure a dismissal of
| the injunction, when his personal prefer
ence was for the shell pavement Be-
| fore the ordinance for paving CASTOR
street was introduced in Council Mr. Ad-
ans was quoted, among other CASTOR
street residents. as opposed to the re-
moval of the shell pavement for some
other. Mr.. Adams will sink his own wish
in his effort to have the Council sus-
| tanned
| Mr.. Pope Barrow said that a constitu-
tional question is involved in the case,
and that 1t was for that reason that the
| injunction was sought in the United
| States Court. For the city to take such
| action. he holds, in the face of the OBJ
position of so per cent. of the properly
owners on CASTOR street, expecting to as
sess them for their proportion of the cost
of the pavement, based upon the front
| fOotage, was a species of confiscation of
| private property without due process of
law. The State Legislature might pass a
law granting such power to a City Coun-
Gil for the passage of such ordinances
| the United States is aSSailed and that
personal rights are trampled upon when
assessments are made for the purpose of
paving a street that owners of abutting
| property would prefer to have remain I'M
touched and from which no benefit to
them is to follow.
The case will be known as Owens ct al.
against the Mayor and Aldermen of Sa-
vannah. The bill gives many grounds up-
on which, the petitioners claim the in
junction should be made permanent 1t
| is set forth that there was a good pave
ment of shell on the street until a por-
tion of it was ruined by the putting in of
| the housedrainage main, and that the
| city was responsible for the restoration
| of the pavement to its former condition.
The she'll pavement, it is asserted was
| never condemned, but the city proceeded
arbitrarily to order new pavement The
/
the great majority, were given no real
hearing, for showing benefits,
1t is claimed, and the property
values on CASTOR, a residence street. will
be deprecated by laying a brick pave
ment, which is noisy and undesirable up
on a street where there are only resi-
| dences.
Mr.. Barrow said 1t was not the assess
ments to which the property owners OBJ
| ject, but the substitution of any sort of
| pavement for she'll There are gentlemen
living on the street, he said, who would
! rather give two or three times the amount
/ their assessments would be and retain
! the shell pavement. Mr.. Barrow says and
/ the bill also recites, that the Mayor and
| Aldermen have no right to order one
pavement supplanted by another, at their
within and caprice One year, he said
| Council might decide to take up a she'll
pavement and replace 1t with brick; the
next year to take up the brick and lay
asphalt; the next to remove the asphalt
and substitute Belgian block, all of which
is wrong and an imposition upon the
rights and privileges of the property own
ers directly assessed for the payment of
the cost.
II the work were done and paid for from
the city treasury. Mr.. Barrow said, prop
erty owners would have no other COM
plant to make than against action that
would be setting their wishes for shell
pavement aside. When assessments upon