Burris v. Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County

266 S.W.3d 16, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 6153, 2008 WL 3522249
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 14, 2008
Docket01-06-00981-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 266 S.W.3d 16 (Burris v. Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burris v. Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, 266 S.W.3d 16, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 6153, 2008 WL 3522249 (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

EVELYN V. KEYES, Justice.

In this inverse condemnation suit, appellants, James R. Burris and Wheelchair & Scooter Express, L.L.C., (“WSE”) appeal the trial court’s order that granted summary judgment in favor of appellee, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (“METRO”). In four issues on appeal, appellants argue that the trial court erred in (1) granting METRO’S motions for summary judgment on appellants’ claim that access to the property is materially and substantially impaired by a METRO project; (2) granting METRO’S motions for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ permanent taking claims associated with METRO’S taking of appellants’ ingress easement appurtenant; (3) denying appellants’ motion for partial summary judgment claiming that there has been a compensable taking by METRO of the ingress easement appurtenant and that access to their property has been materially and substantially impaired; (4) granting METRO’S motions for summary judgment on the claims asserted by WSE because WSE is not an independent third party lessee, but rather is Burris’s wholly owned business which has an ownership interest that has been damaged by METRO’S actions; and (5) granting METRO’S objections to summary judgment evidence.

We affirm.

Background

Burris owns a 17,000 square foot parcel of land at 4905 San Jacinto (the “Property”) at the corner of Wichita Street in Houston, Texas. 1 The Property is im *18 proved with a 6,860 square foot commercial building where WSE sells wheelchairs and motorized scooters to disabled persons. WSE and its sole owner, Burris, have operated on the Property since 1993. 2

In 2002, METRO began construction of a light rail line (METRORail) on San Ja-cinto. Before construction of METRO-Rail, WSE had two driveways where customers could enter and exit the Property by vehicle from San Jacinto. 3 After construction, METRO had to close one driveway into WSE from San Jacinto, and the other driveway was converted into an exit-only drive. Now, the only entrance into WSE is from the side street, Wichita.

Appellants filed suit against METRO for trespass and inverse condemnation based on the allegations that METRO had damaged the Property by materially and substantially impairing access to it and that METRO had permanently taken a portion of the Property without payment of just compensation.

METRO filed a no-evidence and traditional motion for summary judgment on all of appellants’ causes of action. Appellants filed a response and a motion for the determination of the issue of impairment of access. Appellants attached the affidavit of Burris to their motion. Appellants also filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. METRO filed objections to Burris’s affidavit on the ground that it was not based on personal knowledge. The trial court granted METRO’S no-evidence and traditional motions for summary judgment in part and denied appellants’ motion for partial summary judgment in part. The trial court sustained METRO’S objections to paragraphs 3 and 6 of Burris’s affidavit. The trial court’s order states that METRO is granted summary judgment as to:

a. Plaintiffs’ claim that, following the completion of the construction of the METRORail project, access to the property located at the northeast corner of San Jacinto Street and Wichita Avenue (the “Property”) is materially and substantially impaired.
b. Plaintiffs’ permanent taking claims associated with: (i) the relocation of power lines across the southwest corner of the Property; (ii) the alleged encroachment of the access drive from the Property onto San Jacinto Street; and (iii) the alleged encroachment of the grass strip between the parking lot on the property and the sidewalk in the San Ja-cinto Street right-of-way;
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d. The taking claims asserted by Plaintiff Wheelchair & Scooter Express, L.L.C.

The trial court granted in part appellants’ motion for partial summary judgment but otherwise denied their motion. 4 *19 Appellants appeal from the final judgment against them.

Discussion

Standard of Review

We review a trial court’s summary judgment de novo. Valence Operating Co. v. Dorsett, 164 S.W.3d 656, 661 (Tex.2005); Provident Life Accident Ins. Co. v. Knott, 128 S.W.3d 211, 215 (Tex.2003). When reviewing a summary judgment, we take as true all evidence favorable to the non-movant, and indulge every reasonable inference and resolve any doubts in the non-movant’s favor. Dorsett, 164 S.W.3d at 661; Knott, 128 S.W.3d at 215; Sci. Spectrum, Inc. v. Martinez, 941 S.W.2d 910, 911 (Tex.1997). Under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166a(c), the party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); Knott, 128 S.W.3d at 215-16. When both parties move for summary judgment and the trial court grants one motion and denies the other, the reviewing court considers the summary judgment evidence presented by both sides, determines all questions presented, and if it determines that the trial court erred, renders the judgment the trial court should have rendered. See Dorsett, 164 S.W.3d at 661; FM Props. Operating Co. v. City of Austin, 22 S.W.3d 868, 872 (Tex.2000).

Inverse Condemnation

In their first three issues, appellants argue that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on (1) appellants’ claim that the Property was materially and substantially impaired, (2) appellants’ permanent taking claims associated with Metro’s taking of appellants’ ingress easement appurtenant from San Jacinto into the Property, and (3) the claim contending that METRO made a compensable taking of the ingress easement appurtenant to appellants’ Property from San Jacinto Street because the rulings are contrary to the summary judgment evidence.

A governmental unit exercises its power of eminent domain through the process referred to as condemnation. See City of Houston v. Boyle, 148 S.W.3d 171, 178 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2004, no pet.). Condemnation is the procedure by which the sovereign exercises its right to take property of a private owner for public use, without consent, upon the payment of just compensation. Id.; AC. Aukerman Co. v. State, 902 S.W.2d 576

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
266 S.W.3d 16, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 6153, 2008 WL 3522249, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burris-v-metropolitan-transit-authority-of-harris-county-texapp-2008.