return is conclusive evidence of service, at least ten days prior to the appointed day set for the hearing of the same. En. March 12, 1872.

NOTICE SERVED ON NONRESIDENTS.

Sec. 2909, Pol. C. When the owner of the land is a nonresident of the county, it is service of notice for the sheriff to leave a copy with the occupant or agent of the owner; if none, then to place a copy in the postoffice addressed to the owner thirty days prior to the day set for the hearing. If the owner is a minor, insane, idiot, or decedent, notice must be served on the guardian, administrator or other legal representative of such person. En. March 12, 1872.

BOARD TO HEAR PROOF, AND MAY GRANT AUTHORITY. Sec. 2910, Pol. C. On the day named in the notice, or to which the hearing is adjourned, the board of supervisors must hear proof of publication and service of notice; if satisfactory, the board must hear the allegations of the petition, and any objections to the granting of the application, and proofs in support of each. If from the proofs it appear that the public good or convenience will be promoted thereby, the board of supervisors may grant to the applicant the right to erect or construct a wharf, chute, or pier, as prayed for, and to take tolls for the use of the same for the term of twenty years. En. March 12, 1872.

OVERFLOWED OR TIDE LANDS GRANTED.

Sec. 2911, Pol. C. The grant of authority made by the board of supervisors, as provided in the preceding section, conveys to the grantee or applicant the right of way and all necessary use for the purposes of the wharf, chute, or pier, of any of the overflowed, submerged, or tide lands belonging to the state, particularly describing the quantity thereof in the order, as also the right of way over any swamp, overflowed, marsh, or tide lands lying between the wharf, chute, or pier and high or dry land, fifty feet in width, for twenty years. En. March 12,

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FEET ON EACH SIDE OF WHARF,

ETC.

Sec. 2912, Pol. C. The grant of authority herein provided for carries with it the right to have unencumbered and unobstructed the land and water on each side of the wharf, chute, or pier, from high-water mark to navigable water, a distance of one hundred and fifty feet, for the convenience of landing, loading, and unloading vessels but for no other purpose. En. March 12, 1872.

HOW TO OBTAIN USE OF LANDS.

Sec. 2913, Pol. C. Authority to construct a wharf, chute, or pier, being granted, the grantee or applicant may procure from the owner the right of way and other necessary incidental use for the wharf, chute, or pier, of any of his lands, by proceedings had under title VII, part III, of the Code of Civil Procedure. Until such use of the lands held adversely is obtained by agreement, or by the proceedings hereinbefore mentioned, there is no authority to construct a wharf, chute, or pier, or to take tolls thereon. En. March 12, 1872.

Section Cited.

Coburn v. Ames, 57 Cal. 204.

Annotation.

Section Construed.-Under this section, no wharf, etc., can be constructed, or tolls collected thereon, until the use of the lands is obtained in the manner herein prescribed. (Coburn v. Ames, 57 Cal. 204.)

DIMENSIONS OF WHARVES, ETC.

Sec. 2914, Pol. C. The wharf, chute, or pier must not be of greater width than seventy-five (75) feet, and may extend to navigable water; provided, that a wharf constructed upon any of the navigable rivers, straits, sloughs, and inlets in this state may extend along the shores for a distance not exceeding one thousand feet, but in no case shall any wharf, chute, or pier extend into the water so far as to obstruct the free navigation of the water on which the same is situated; provided, this act shall not apply to the waterfronts of incorporated cities and towns. En. March 12, 1872. Amd. 1880, 66.

Legislative History.

For basis of section, see sec. 2906, supra. The original section is the same as the above as far as the proviso; it concludes thus: "but not so far as in anywise to impede or obstruct the free navigation of the water on which the same is situated."

FRANCHISE, WHAT CONSTITUTES.

Sec. 2915, Pol. C. The orders granting authority, and agreements, contracts, deeds, and decrees of courts granting the right of way and other use of lands, must be filed and recorded in the office of the recorder of the county where the wharf, chute, or pier is situated and constitute the franchise of the applicant. The fees of the recorder, as also the fees of the clerk, sheriff and other officers for services rendered, must be paid by the applicant. En. March 12, 1872.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO FIX RATE OF TOLLS, ETC. Sec. 2916, Pol. C. The board of supervisors must fix the rate of tolls or wharfage for the use of the wharf, chute, or pier annually, which must not produce an income of less than fifteen per cent per annum nor more than twenty-five per cent per annum on the fair cash value of the wharf, chute, or pier, and on the cost of repair and maintenance thereof, exclusive of the amount paid for license imposed by the next section. Such value and cost of repair and maintenance to be fixed by the board of supervisors when levying the rates of tolls or wharfage, by hearing evidence and examining the assessment-rolls of the county. When fixed, the rates must be furnished the owner, and a printed or written copy thereof conspicuously posted on the wharf, chute, or pier. En. March 12, 1872. Amd. 1875-76, 52.

Legislative History.

For basis of section, see sec. 2906, Pol. C., supra.

The original section did not have the words "nor more than twenty-five per cent per annum, nor the words "exclusive of the amount paid for license imposed by the next section," nor the words "and cost of repair and maintenance." Instead of "and on" it had the word "including."

LICENSE, AND THE TAX FOR.

Sec. 2917, Pol. C. When the wharf, chute, or pier is completed and the tolls or wharfage fixed, the owner is entitled to a license to take the tolls thereon for the term of one year, to be issued by the county auditor on the payment of such license tax as the board of supervisors may fix, which, except that for the first year, must not be more than ten per cent of the gross receipts for tolls or wharfage for the previous year, to be paid to the county treasury for general road purposes. En. March 12, 1872.

TO KEEP IN GOOD REPAIR.

Sec. 2918, Pol. C. Any owner or keeper of a wharf, chute, or pier who takes toll or wharfage for the use of the same when not in good repair, or is unsafe or dangerous, forfeits the sum of twenty-five dollars, to be recovered by order of the board of supervisors granting authority to construct it, for the use of the general road fund of the county, and is liable for all damages occasioned thereby. En. March 12, 1872.

RESTRICTIONS ON GRANTING AUTHORITY.

Sec. 2919, Pol. C. No authority must be granted under this chapter to interfere with vested rights, nor to interfere with or infringe grants heretofore made by state authority; nor does authority to construct a wharf, chute, or pier continue for a longer period than two years, unless the same is within that time completed. En. March 12, 1872.

Section Cited.

Shirley v. Bishop, 67 Cal. 545, 8 Pac. 82.

Annotation.

Vested Right in Waterfront.-The navigable waters adjoining the permanent waterfront of the city of Benicia, as established by the act of March 21, 1868, are a public highway; and an owner of land, the boundary of which forms a part of the waterfront, has a vested right of free access to such highway, of which he cannot be deprived without compensation. And the erection of a wharf materially obstructing the free ingress or egress to such waterfront will be enjoined. (Shirley v. Bishop, 67 Cal. 545, 8 Pac. S2. To

same effect: San Jose etc. Co. v. Brooks, 74 Cal. 467, 16 Pac. 250, as to public road; Shirley v. Benicia, 118 Cal. 347, 50 Pac, 404.)

CITIES AND TOWNS EXEMPTED AND AUTHORIZED.

Sec. 2920, Pol. C. The lands of the state situate in the city and county of San Francisco, and those otherwise disposed of or situate within the limits of any incorporated town or city of this state, are excluded from the provisions of this chapter. The municipal authorities of any incorporated city or town other than San Francisco may grant authority to construct wharves, chutes, and piers, as is herein provided, for the board of supervisors. En. March 12, 1872.

Section Cited.

Morgan v. Menzies, 60 Cal. 347.

GRANTING RAILROAD RIGHT TO CONSTRUCT.

Sec. 2921, Pol. C. Boards of supervisors of counties in this state may grant to any railroad corporation authority to construct a wharf, or pier on or in front of any lands owned by it bordering on any navigable bay, inlet, lake, creek, slough or arm of the sea situate in or bounding their counties, respectively, with a license to take tolls for the use of the same for the term of the corporate existence of the said railroad corporations, not exceeding fifty years whenever such board finds the use of said wharf or pier necessary to the exercise of the franchise of such railroad corporation for terminal purposes, and the same may be granted without offering the same for sale. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to limit the powers of such boards to grant the right to such railroad corporations to build and construct for terminal purposes on and in front of any lands owned by it any wharf or pier of the width necessary for the carrying on of the business of such railroad at such terminal, not to exceed one thousand (1,000) feet, and to the length that it may be desirable to construct the same, so that it may not prevent the navigation by boats and vessels of such navigable bay, inlet, lake, creek, slough or arm of the sea; provided, that there shall be excluded from the operation of this section any and all territory and property under the jurisdiction or control