Bussing v. Indiana Department of Transportation

779 N.E.2d 98, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1965, 2002 WL 31667868
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 27, 2002
Docket82A01-0111-CV-433
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 779 N.E.2d 98 (Bussing v. Indiana Department of Transportation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bussing v. Indiana Department of Transportation, 779 N.E.2d 98, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1965, 2002 WL 31667868 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

SULLIVAN, Judge.

Appellants, W.C. Bussing, Jr., and Buss-ing Construction Corp. (collectively "Buss-ing"), sued Appellee, the Indiana Department of Transportation ("INDOT"), 1 under the theory of inverse condemnation after INDOT informed Bussing of its intention to eliminate left-hand turns from State Road 66 onto Brentwood Avenue, which connects Bussing's apartment complex to S.R. 66. Following the trial court's judgment in favor of INDOT, Bussing presents two issues for our appellate review, which we restate as whether the trial court erred in concluding that there had been no com-pensable taking of Bussing's property.

We affirm.

The record reveals that Bussing owns the Fielding Court Apartments, which are *102 located at the southwest corner of S.R. 66 and Brentwood. 2 State Road 66 runs east and west and is intersected by Brentwood, which runs north and south. Bussing began construction of these apartments in 1968, at which time S.R. 66 was a two-lane road known as Division Street. Brent-wood runs adjacent to the east side of the apartment complex and provides access to SR. 66 from the apartments. In 1984, INDOT began a project to enlarge S.R. 66 into a four-lane highway known as the Lloyd Expressway. As part of this process, INDOT initiated condemnation proceedings to acquire a strip of land owned by Bussing. As part of the expansion project, INDOT constructed a sixty-foot wide median on S.R. 66 at the Brentwood intersection. The median was constructed with left-hand turn lanes for both eastbound and westbound traffic on SR. 66. Thus, a driver traveling in either direction on S.R. 66 was able to turn southbound onto Brentwood and access the Bussing property.

On March 19, 1986, INDOT informed Bussing of its intention to maintain the existing access to Brentwood. Through an agreed finding and judgment, filed on May 27, 1986, Bussing relinquished his interests in the property sought by INDOT and granted a temporary easement for highway right-of-way and easements of ingress and egress to, from, and across S.R. 66.

. On January 25, 1999, INDOT sent Bussing a letter informing him that it planned to eliminate the left-hand turn at the intersection of Brentwood and S.R. 66. Bussing eventually filed an amended complaint against INDOT on October 25, 1999, under the theory of inverse condemnation. The complaint requested that the trial court find that a taking of Bussing's property and access rights had occurred and requested an order directing the matter to proceed under Indiana's eminent domain statutes for an assessment of damages. 3 On August 6, 2001, the trial court held a trial on the issue of whether a taking had occurred. On October 16, the trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law in favor of INDOT, finding that no compensable taking had occurred.

At Bussing's request, the trial court entered special findings and conclusions pursuant to Trial Rule 52. Our standard of review is therefore two-tiered: we determine whether the evidence supports the trial court's findings, and we determine whether the findings support the judgment. Indianapolis Indiana Aamco Dealers Advertising Pool v. Anderson, 746 N.E.2d 383, 386 (Ind.Ct.App.2001). We will not disturb the trial court's findings or judgment unless they are clearly erroneous. Id. Findings of fact are clearly erroneous when the record lacks any reasonable inference from the evidence to support them, and the trial court's judgment is clearly erroneous if it is unsupported by the findings and the conclusions which rely upon those findings. Culley v. *103 McFadden Lake Corp., 674 N.E.2d 208, 211 (Ind.Ct.App.1996). In determining whether the findings. or judgment are clearly erroncous, we consider only the evidence favorable to the judgment and all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom. Gunderson v. Rondinelli, 677 N.E.2d 601, 608 (Ind.Ct.App.1997). We will neither reweigh evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses. Anderson, 746 N.E.2d at 386. Here, Bussing is appealing from a negative judgment, and therefore we will reverse the trial court only if the evidence is without conflict and all reasonable inferences td_bé drawn from the evidence lead to a conclusion other than that reached by the trial court. Id.

Although Bussing fashions his argument as consisting of two issues, his argument essentially is that several of the trial court's conclusions are erroneous. We will address each of Bussing's challenges to the trial court's conclusions in turn.

~ Conclusion No. 1

Bussing challenges the trial court's Conclusion Number 1, which reads, "The Plaintiffs relinquished all access rights to State Road 66 from the real estates subject to this cause under judgments entered in Vanderburgh Superior Court in 1986." Appendix at 12. The trial court's conclusion appears to be recognition that Buss-ing relinquished his direct access rights to S.R. 66 to INDOT. This is supported by the language of the judgment itself 4 and the testimony of Mr. Bussing, who testified at trial that the 1986 judgment appropriated his right to access S R. 66 directly from his property.

Bussing claims that the 1986 judgment and settlement preserved his right to access S.R. 66. : Specifically, he claims that the judgment provided for "monetary consideration and the creation of a cross over at Brentwood Avenue and the widening of Brentwood Avenue for. access." Appellant's Br. at 8. Bussing, however, does not cite to any portion of the 1986 judgment which supports his contention, nor does our review of this document reveal any such support. Instead, we note that the 1986 judgment twice provides that Bussing was to receive monetary compensation for land and property rights taken. Nowhere in the 1986 judgment do we find any reference to the creation of a crossover in the median 'or the widening of Brentwood as additional consideration offered to Bussing in exchange for the land and property rights taken.

In further support of his argument regarding the 1986 judgment, Bussing refers to that portion of the judgment which cere-ated cross easements between the property downed by Bussing Construction Corp. and W.C. Bussing, Jr., individually. ~ The 1986 judgment did call for the creation 'of a permanent easement in favor of W.C. Bussing, Jr., across the north and west line of the Bussing Construction Corp G property to serve as a means of ingress and egress to the Fielding Court Apartments. 5 Bussing claims this was done to *104 prevent the westernmost parcel of land from being denied "total access" to S.R. 66. Appellant's Reply Br. at 2. We fail to see how the creation of this easement prohibits the elimination of left-hand turns from SR. 66 onto Brentwood or from Brentwood onto S.R. 66 without further compensation to Bussing.

Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
779 N.E.2d 98, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1965, 2002 WL 31667868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bussing-v-indiana-department-of-transportation-indctapp-2002.