City of Memphis v. Hood

345 S.W.2d 887, 208 Tenn. 319, 12 McCanless 319, 1961 Tenn. LEXIS 290
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 10, 1961
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 345 S.W.2d 887 (City of Memphis v. Hood) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Memphis v. Hood, 345 S.W.2d 887, 208 Tenn. 319, 12 McCanless 319, 1961 Tenn. LEXIS 290 (Tenn. 1961).

Opinions

[321]*321MR. Justice Burnett,

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is an eminent domain proceeding. The City of Memphis and the State of Tennessee have petitioned for certiorari on the one side, and the property owners have likewise petitioned on the other. We heretofore granted both petitions, briefs and assignments of error have been filed, and able arguments heard. After thoroughly reading these briefs, listening to the arguments, making an independent investigation and tkb king of the matter for some days, we now have the questions presented for determination.

The city and state present the question of whether or not in determining the amount of incidental damages to the remainder of the realty owned by the property owners not condemned, is the jury entitled to take into consideration the fact that the flow of traffic in front of the property, a portion of which was taken, but ingress and egress not disturbed, is to be changed from two-way traffic to one-way traffic?

This Court some eighty years ago answered the question proposed in principle though at that time there was no such thing as modern highways and highway traffic of today. In Moses v. Sanford, 79 Tenn. 731, this Court had before it a question of whether or not a property owner, a part of whose property had been taken, was entitled to incidental damages for the reason that a bridge had been built over a river, and, in the building of same, part of his property where he had a ferry had been taken; whether or not he was entitled to damages by reason of the [322]*322traffic going over the bridge and not over his ferry. The Court in answering this question said:

“The profits of the ferry franchise were, however, destroyed, not by the condemnation of the land or the existence of a bridge pier erected thereon, but by the opening of the bridge for travel across the river. The land and the use of it for ferry purposes were not affected, but the value of the ferry franchise was depreciated by the new mode of travel created for the citizens by the proper public authority. And the question is narrowed down to this, is the loss of the profits of a franchise an incidental damage within the meaning of the statute, when the exercise of that franchise, as well as the franchise itself, is not impaired by the condemnation of the property to public use, or the existence of the pier?
“If a third person owned a ferry franchise exercised upon land either above or below the land condemned, it is clear that he could not claim damages by the condemnation, or the new mode of transit. If the defendant exercised his franchise on another lot than the land condemned, it is equally conceded he would be without remedy * * V»

Then the Court says and quotes from Judge Cooley’s Constitutional Limitations thus:

“A franchise, although exercised upon the land, is ‘other property’ within the rule, if the exercise of the business be not affected by the condemnation. For, says the same author, ‘No one has a vested right to be protected against consequential injuries arising from a proper exercise of public powers. The construction of a new way, or the discontinuance of an old one may [323]*323very seriously affect the value of adjacent property, but in neither case can the parties, whose interests may be injuriously affected enjoin the act, or claim compensation from the public. ’ Const.Lim., 481. The injury in the case before us was not by the erection on the condemned land, hut by the opening of a new way by the county court, the proper public authority. It is damnum absque injuria, and must be borne accordingly.”

When the fee to the street is in the public the adjoining-owner suffers no legal injury under the common law because the public ceases to use the street. Coyne v. City of Memphis, 118 Tenn. 651, 102 S. W. 355; Hamilton County v. Rape, 101 Tenn. 222, 47 S. W. 416.

In Nichols on Eminent Domain, 3rd Ed., Vol. 2, Section 6.445, page 409, the author makes this very pertinent statement:

“An individual proprietor has no right to insist that the entire volume of traffic that would naturally flow over a highway of which he owns the fee pass undi-verted and unobstructed. In fact, while under some circumstances and conditions he has a right of access to and from his own premises, he has no constitutional right to have anyone pass by his premises at all.”

There are numerous decisions and in fact as far as we can find this legal statement is correct. Based on this statement the courts of all the States, except two (Pike County v. Whittington, 263 Ala. 47, 81 So.2d 288, and In re McKay’s Estate, Ohio App., 121 N.E.2d 300), hold that “The applicable rule as to damages for diversion of traffic is the same under one situation as another; we test the claimed vested right to the current of public [324]*324travel by the same measure, whether twenty feet may have been taken off the back of an owner’s lot without damage to the front where the flow of traffic was formerly found, or whether the relocated highway is situated twenty feet further away so that it be not necessary to take any portion of the owner’s land. Obviously, the landowner’s claim must rest or fall upon a decision whether she has a vested right in the flow of public travel, which once came by her door, but for which now, for the convenience of the general public, a shorter and more convenient route has been opened and is being employed. We hold she has no such right.” Board of County Commissioners of Santa Fe County v. Slaughter, 49 N.M. 141, 158 P.2d 859, 863. This opinion from which we have last quoted analyzes the subject thoroughly, and the reasoning so far as we can determine is absolutely sound. This case cites cases from numerous other jurisdictions, text writers, etc., and we adopt the opinion herein by reference as being absolutely applicable to the question here under consideration.

Of course, the property owners fronting upon a public thoroughfare have a right to free and convenient access thereto. This right of ingress and egress attaches to the land. It is a property right, as complete as ownership of the land itself. But when we come to damages claimed by reason of the change of the flow of traffic, making a street a four-lane highway or diverting the traffic one way or the other, this comes from the exercise of the police power of the governing parties and such damages as result to one are non-compensable, as they are an incidental right resulting from a lawful act. The Supreme Court of Washington in State of Washington v. Fox et al., 53 Wash.2d 216, 332 P.2d 943, in 1958 reached [325]*325this same conclusion. We can cite many cases from other jurisdictions, all of which except the two we have cited above hold this way. In the Alabama case, which was cited above holding to the contrary, the dissenting opinion filed thereto adopts the New Mexico case which we have referred to and quoted from and quotes it in full verbatim. We think this dissenting opinion far more reasonable that the majority opinion. In this dissenting opinion the court says this:

“The following illustrates the result reached by the majority.

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Bluebook (online)
345 S.W.2d 887, 208 Tenn. 319, 12 McCanless 319, 1961 Tenn. LEXIS 290, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-memphis-v-hood-tenn-1961.