Is the Road Law Unconstitutional?
A Seattle man challenges the legality of a new road near Houghton, claiming private property rights are being trampled for the benefit of a few.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
William Cochrane is of the opinion that the road law is unconstitutional. He filed in the superior court yesterday a protest against the establishment of the Allen road, near Houghton and running along the east shore of Lake Washington, for the reason that ten freeholders had not filed a petition for such a road; that the petition which was filed was defective and did not state the terminal points of the alleged road with any certainty; that the road is impracticable and of no general use nor public benefit, but for the special use of a few residents of Kirkland alone, and that those persons plan to cut off the water front from the steamboat and utilize the same for private purposes. Cochrane also protests that no legal or proper notice of the hearing of the road petition has ever been given. His objections to the constitutionality of the law are that it permits private property to be appropriated without any opportunity for protest; that it permits the value of private property to be adjudged by three viewers without allowing the owners of the property to appear before the viewers to object; that it takes land without due appropriation by law and with no provision for compensation nor for a jury trial; and that it is wholly void and unconstitutional in that it violates the constitutional provision of the state of Washington that private property shall not be taken for public use save by due process of law and with just compensation.
“The road is impracticable and of no general use nor public benefit, but for the special use of a few residents.”
Conflicts over 'public' vs 'private' use of Lake Washington waterfront remain a constant in Seattle's history. This 1891 challenge echoes modern debates over shoreline public access, zoning, and the use of eminent domain to bypass local property owners.
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