Director of Highways v. Lordstown Realty Co.

23 Ohio App. 2d 233
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 27, 1970
DocketNo. 1852
StatusPublished

This text of 23 Ohio App. 2d 233 (Director of Highways v. Lordstown Realty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Director of Highways v. Lordstown Realty Co., 23 Ohio App. 2d 233 (Ohio Ct. App. 1970).

Opinions

Hoestetter, P. J.

This cause comes before this Court of Appeals on questions of law from the Common Pleas Court of Trumbull County.

On July 2, 1965, the Director of Highways filed a resolution and finding to appropriate property belonging to Lordstown Realty, Inc., located on state Route No. 45 in Lordstown Township, south of the intersection of state Route No. 45 and Carson-Salt Springs Road.

When the case was called for trial on May 10, 1967, the state moved to strike the appeal on the grounds that Lordstown Realty, Inc., was no longer the owner of the property. The court permitted Lordstown Realty Co., a partnership, to be substituted for Lordstown Realty, Inc.

The state moved that the owners be required to disclose the names and addresses of the partners in Lords-town Realty, a partnership. The motion was overruled.

After the highway department engineer had testified, the director moved to amend the resolution and finding to conform to the evidence of the engineer that the interest being sought by the state was an easement rather than fee simple.

The case proceeded to trial, and the jury returned a verdict in the total amount of $22,800.

The state filed a motion for new trial, which was overruled by the Common Pleas Court, and it is from the judgment overruling that motion that this appeal has been taken to this court.

[235]*235The state of Ohio sets forth five assignments of error.

Assignment of Eesob No. 1

The appellant claims that the court erred in not permitting the Director of Highways, during trial, to amend the resolution and finding. This court is of the opinion that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to permit such amendment, because the case had proceeded to trial based on the original resolution and finding, and all appraisals made for the trial were based upon that resolution and finding.

Assignment oe Eebok No. 2

The appellant claims that the court erred in submitting to the jury the property owner’s special instructions Nos. 1 and 8 before argument.

Special instruction No. 1 reads as follows:

“You are instructed as a separate proposition of law that the state is taking all rights, title and interest in fee simple in the land appropriated as Parcel No. 74-WD and that after this appropriation, the property owner will no longer have any property rights, title or interest in said property appropriated.”

Special instruction No. 8 reads as follows:

“You are instructed as a separate proposition of law that by virtue of the state’s having appropriated all right, title and interest in fee simple of the parcel of land known in this proceeding as 74-WD, the director, after determining that any such real property is no longer required for highway purposes, may at any time after this appropriation convey or transfer to any private persons, firms or corporations, all or any lesser estate or interest in said parcel to the highest bidder at public auction. Said real property, except for reasonable ingress and egress to the landowner’s abutting property, can be used by any such private persons, firm or corporation for any lawful purpose whatsoever regardless of what the present plans and specifications of the State Highway Director show for the reconstruction of State Route No. 45.”

This court is of the opinion that Special Instruction No. [236]*2361 is a correct statement of the law and that the trial court did not err in submitting it to the jury.

As to Special Instruction No. 8, this court does not find it to be a totally correct statement of the law, but neither does it find it to be prejudicial to the appellant. It has been argued that Special Instruction No. 8 should not have been submitted to the jury because it permits the jury to speculate on the issue of damages which might occur at a future date. The court cannot agree with this premise. There is nothing speculative about the exercise of a present right which exists at the moment land is acquired. Granted that the highway specifications do not presently disclose any intent for a use other than a highway, the fact remains that a fee simple title, along with “all right, title and interest” gives the owner the right to use the acquired land for any lawful purpose, and the jury should consider the damages accruing to the residue when the land acquired can be used for any lawful purpose as opposed to highway purposes only. It is entirely possible that a jury could find that any other lawful purpose to which a landowner in fee could put his land would be less damaging than use of the land as a public highway. At any rate, it is not speculative to emphasize to a jury what uses of land come within the uses available to a landowner who owns the fee simple title, along with all right, title and interest. The record of what rights belong to the state is evidenced by the title filed in the county recorder’s office. If the state does not need “all right, title and interest,” it has the prerogative of acquiring only that which it does need. The abutting landowner does not have that choice, and hence must be compensated now for all the rights taken.

That portion of Special Instruction No. 8 which reads, “Said real property, except for reasonable ingress and egress to the landowner’s abutting property, can be used by any such private persons, firm or corporation for any lawful purpose whatsoever regardless of what the present plans and specifications of the state Highway Director show for the reconstruction of state Route No. 45,” [237]*237is not, in the opinion of this conrt, a correct statement of the law, if we are in accord with Special Instruction No. 1 and the first part of Special Instruction No. 8. Ordinarily, no holder of a fee simple title, along with all right, title and interest, has any reasonable ingress or egress to the landowner’s abutting property. The intent of this latter portion of Special Instruction No. 8, if placed in its proper grammatical perspective, reads as follows:

“Said real property, [referring to that portion taken in fee] can be used by any such private' persons, firm or corporation for any lawful purpose whatsoever regardless of what the present plans and specifications of the State Highway Director show for the reconstruction of state Route No. 45, except for reasonable ingress and, egress to the landowner’s abutting property.”

The appellant has not sought ingress or egress to the landowner’s remaining property, nor did appellant acquire it in the acquisition of the fee simple title. The exception noted in the special instruction is the same as that which lawfully prevails, and therefore it cannot be prejudicial to the appellant.

Assignment of ERROR No. 3

The appellant claims that the court erred in giving the property owner’s special instruction No. 4 before argument.

Special instruction No. 4 reads as follows:

“You are instructed as a separate proposition of law that the damages to the remainder of the property are not necessarily to be determined solely on the basis of the present intended use of the land taken by the Director of Highways or the present proposed location of the pavement planned in the present reconstruction of State Route No. 45.

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Director of Highways v. Kramer
23 Ohio App. 2d 219 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1970)
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5 Ohio St. 568 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1856)
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18 Ohio St. 89 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1849)
Masheter v. Diver
253 N.E.2d 780 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1969)
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28 Ohio Law. Abs. 325 (Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, 1938)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 Ohio App. 2d 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/director-of-highways-v-lordstown-realty-co-ohioctapp-1970.