Garland v. State

66 Misc. 2d 532, 321 N.Y.S.2d 776, 1971 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1631
CourtNew York Court of Claims
DecidedMay 12, 1971
DocketClaim No. 50537; Claim No. 51020
StatusPublished

This text of 66 Misc. 2d 532 (Garland v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garland v. State, 66 Misc. 2d 532, 321 N.Y.S.2d 776, 1971 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1631 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1971).

Opinion

Milton Albert, J.

The above two claims were tried together as there were common questions of law and fact involved. No order of consolidation or joint trial was ever entered. A single decision will be made, but separate judgments will be entered.

The claimants, among them, owned 158.250± acres of land on the west side of Cold Spring Road in the Town of Coxsackie in Greene County. Located within their holdings was Bronk’s Lake, a man-made body of water, which covered 59± acres of land. Of the 158.250± acres, claimants Joseph T. and Virginia K. Garland owned 79.831± acres, of which 32± acres were covered by the lake. Claimants Louise H. and Henry Knaust, Jr., owned the 78.419± acres contiguous to the Garland property, of which 27± acres were covered by the lake. The dam that impounded the waters was located on the Garland property.

The State of New York, through its Commissioner and Department of Correction and pursuant to section 21 of the Correction Law, appropriated permanent easements over the entire 59±-acre lake for water supply purposes for use by the New York State Vocational Institution at West Coxsackie. The easements were 11 for the purpose of securing and diverting an adequate and wholesome supply of water * * * impounded above a minimum lake level set at 2.5 feet below the spillway elevation.” Additional permanent easements, totaling 0.676± acres were taken for a .right of way for water supply purposes which covered the dam, spillway and a water pipeline. Reserved to the claimants and their successors in the lake easements was “the right only to use the waters of Bronk’s Lake * * * for the following recreational uses: boating, -sailing, fishing, swimming and water skiing, also the right to draw water from the lake for household purposes, provided the exercise of such rights does not, in the opinion of the Commissioner of Correction acting for the State of New York, his successor and/or successors in office, interfere with or prevent the public use and exercise of easement rights hereinbefore described.”

[534]*534The Garlands’ claim is based upon Map 3, Parcel 4, Map 4, Parcels 5 and 6,. and Map 5, Parcel 7, all in Greene County, which covered a 32±-aere area of the lake and the right of way covering the dam, spillway, and water pipeline. The Knausts’ claim is based on Map 6, Parcel 8, in Greene County, which covered a 27±-acre area of the lake. The aforesaid maps and descriptions were filed in the office of the Clerk of Greene County on February 16, 1968.

The Garlands ’ claim was filed with the Clerk of the Court of Claims and the Attorney-General on January 16, 1969. The Knausts ’ claim was similarly filed on May 21,1969. Neither claim has been assigned or submitted to any other court or tribunal for audit or determination.

The court adopts the descriptions of the appropriated property as shown on the maps and descriptions filed in the Greene County Clerk’s office, copies of which are attached to the claims and same are incorporated herein by reference.

Claimants Joseph T. and Virginia K. Garland were the owners of their property by reason of a deed dated November 1, 1960 from Herman Knaust, grantor, to Joseph T. and Virginia K. Garland, grantees, recorded in the Greene County Clerk’s office on February 15, 1961, in Book 391 of Deeds at page 329. Claimants Louise H. and Henry Knaust, Jr., derive their title by reason of a deed dated December 22, 1959 from Knaust Brothers, Inc., grantor, to Henry Knaust, grantee, recorded in the Greene County Clerk’s office on December 24, 1959 in Book 381 of Deeds at page 584. Henry Knaust died and claimants Louise H. and Henry Knaust, Jr., qualified as executors under the will of Henry Knaust.

By the above-described deeds, each of the grantees enjoyed a right to use, in common with the other, the part of the lake not included in their conveyance, for recreational purposes. The conveyances provided also for common use of a driveway and for the common maintenance of the dam and of the lake level.

In addition to the lake, the parcels were improved with almost identical fine Adirondack-type cabin residences located between the lake and the highway. These residences were served by the common drive.

Although the claimants’ appraiser prepared two appraisals, he valued both holdings together and then apportioned the values and damages between the two.ownerships. He valued the land on a per acre basis and to this added an enhancement value for the lake. Based on an area of 158± acres (including the 59± acre area of the lake) and the per acre value of $125, he found [535]*535a land value of $19,750, to which he added a lake enhancement value of $275,000 and divided the total in half to arrive at a land and lake value of $147,500 for each ownership. For each of the parcels he valued the buildings at $29,850 and the improvements at $9,200 so that his before value for each of the two sets of clcámamis was $186,550. In the after situation, he valued 98.5± acres of land (exclusive of the lake) at $150 per acre for a total of $14,800, rounded, and found no change in the value of the buildings and improvements. However, he did not divide the after value equally as the Garlands ’ holdings are smaller. Hence, in the after situation, he allotted $7,073.25 to the Garlands and $7,724.85 to the Knausts. Nevertheless, he testified to a total damage of $280,200 which he divided equally, or $140,100 for each set of claimants.

An engineer produced by the claimants testified that based on his analysis of the work that he estimated was done to construct the dam and lake bottom, the present day cost thereof would be $354,010.

The State’s appraiser testified to a value of $600 per acre and found a higher value for the Knaust claim because of their larger holdings. For the Knaust claim, his land value for an 84± acre area was $50,400; and for a 71.4± acre area held by the Garlands, it was $42,840; the ground improvements for each parcel were the same, $1,000. He valued the Knaust’s building at $28,700 as it had a larger garage; the Garland’s building was valued at $27,840. Thus, the Knaust’s “before” value was $80,100 and the Garland’s $71,680.

In the “ after ” situation, he valued the land at $500 per acre for the Knausts and $450 per acre for the Garlands.

Thus, his value of a Knaust 84±-acre parcel after the taking was $42,000 for the land, $900 for the improvements, and $25,830 for the buildings. This gave him a damage amount of $11,370, of which $2,700 was direct damage for the permanent easement over the lake and $8,670 as consequential damage to the land and buildings; he deducted $485 -as a factor for dam maintenance and rounded his damage at $11,000.

The after value of a Garland 70±-acre parcel was testified by him to be $31,830 for the land, $900 for the improvements and $25,056 for the buildings. His damages for this parcel were $13,894, of which $5,100 was direct damage and $8,794 was consequential damage to the land and buildings; he deducted $485 here too, as a factor for dam maintenance and rounded the damages to $13,400.

The court viewed the property.

[536]*536After careful consideration of the testimony at the trial, the appraisals and exhibits in evidence, the demeanor of the witnesses, and the court’s view of the subject property, the court finds as follows:

1.

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Related

Bronxville Palmer, Ltd. v. State
36 A.D.2d 10 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1971)
Dillenbeck v. State
193 Misc. 542 (New York State Court of Claims, 1948)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 Misc. 2d 532, 321 N.Y.S.2d 776, 1971 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1631, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garland-v-state-nyclaimsct-1971.