Huckabee v. State

431 S.W.2d 927, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2387
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 5, 1968
Docket6988
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 431 S.W.2d 927 (Huckabee v. State) 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
Huckabee v. State, 431 S.W.2d 927, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2387 (Tex. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

STEPHENSON, Justice.

This is an eminent domain case involving the partial taking of the fee simple title to a tract of land for the purpose of widening an existing highway. Trial was by jury and judgment was rendered upon the verdict. The appellant is Huckabee, the landowner.

Appellant’s first point of error is that the trial court erred in sustaining appellees’ special exception to the following pleadings:

Condemnee would further show and represent unto the Court condemnee acquired title to said Lots 9 and 10 of the Cloverdale Addition and the improvements thereon located on or about August 15, 1963; thereafter condemnee caused the improvements on said premises to be completely renovated, secured a franchise for the preparation and sale of Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken, and, on or about the first week in October, 1963, commenced the business of the sale to the public of said fried chicken and other food products; and from the time of commencement of said business until a short time before the taking of his property by the condemnor herein this condemnee earned a net profit from the operation of said business, an average of ten thousand ($10,-000.00) dollars per year. In this connection, condemnee alleges that, commencing on the 1st day of June, 1965 to the date of the trial of this cause, by reason of the taking of the property of condemnee herein for the construction of the highway improvements for which said taking was rendered necessary, and the excavations and construction involved in the making of said improvements, said profitable business of this condemnee has been totally interrupted and, in all reasonable probability, will continue to be totally interrupted until June 1, 1968, all with resulting loss to this condemnee of probable profits by reason of such temporary interruption of his business, all to his damage in the sum of $30,000.00, which said amount he is entitled to recover from said condemnor.

Such special exception reads in part as follows:

(A) Because such allegations show that defendant seeks to recover lost business profits allegedly resulting from the severance and taking itself, as a separate item of recovery, and such element is not compensable as a separate item of recovery.
(B) Because there is no allegation that defendant’s remaining property has been deprived of access to the pub- *929 lie streets, or deprived of reasonable access, or that his access has been substantially interferred with during the construction and improvement of the highway and without pleading of same, the defendant is not entitled to recover business profits, allegedly lost, as a separate item of recovery.
(C) Because there is no allegation as to when defendant’s remaining property was deprived access to the public streets, or deprived reasonable access, or the access substantially interferred with (all of which is not admitted but denied), or in what manner such was done, or that defendant was even in business at such time, and therefore plaintiffs are without notice as to what defendant will attempt to prove concerning these matters and without proof of the above, the defendant is not entitled to recover lost business profits as a separate item of recovery.
(D) Because there is no allegation as to what action of the plaintiffs prevented defendant from engaging in business and without such pleading, plaintiffs are without notice as to what defendant will attempt to prove to support the recovery of lost business profits as a separate item of recovery.
(E) Because there is no allegation that defendant’s remaining property is large enough to continue his business after the date of taking or that his business can be expected to be resumed at that location and therefore defendant seeks to recover lost business profits as a separate element of damages, under circumstances wherein he had not shown same to be compensable under law.

Appellant refused to amend his pleadings.

By his pleadings, appellant was seeking damages in the amount of $30,-000.00 at the rate of $10,000.00 per year for three years, for the temporary interruption of his business. Under certain circumstances this is a proper item of damages. This court said in City of San Augustine v. Johnson, 349 S.W.2d 653 that the trial court in that case properly submitted issues to determine the amount of damages caused by temporary interruption of a business. In effect, it was held that this was not an element to be considered in the difference in the market value of that part of the land not taken, before and after the taking. The case of City of La Grange v. Pieratt, 142 Tex. 23, 175 S.W.2d 243 was cited as authority for such proposition. The Supreme Court in the Pieratt case had this to say:

In this connection, we think that where a part of a tract of land is condemned for street or road purposes, and the owner claims consequential damages to the land left, on account of the loss of profits arising from an established business being conducted thereon, while the road or street improvements are in progress, such claim may and should be presented at the condemnation proceeding, if it is of such a nature that it could reasonably have been foreseen and determined at the time. State v. Brewer, [141 Tex. 1, 169 S.W.2d 468]; 16 Tex.Jur., p. 954, and authorities there cited.
It is the law that where a breach of a contract or a tort results in damages to an established business, in the form of loss of profits, which would have been derived therefrom absent such breach of contract or tort, the owner of such business may recover damages from the party causing such loss, measured by the amount of such loss of profits. 28 Tex.Jur. p. 215 § 114, and authorities there cited. We have already shown that the same rule applies in condemnation proceedings. In such proceedings an established business is property, and damages thereto in the form of loss of profits should be taken into consideration in such proceedings.

*930 However, we do not find the facts of the instant case as qualifying it to the recovery provided for by the law of the Pieratt case, supra. Paragraph (E) of the State’s exceptions, as above quoted called upon appellant to allege that the remainder of the property was large enough to continue his business after the date of the hearing, or that his business could be expected to be resumed. Appellant refused to amend and make these allegations. The allegations could not have been made, as appellant testified on the trial of this case that the remainder was too small to operate his business upon. This demonstrates appellant was not actually suffering a temporary loss of business and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in sustaining such special exception to the pleadings.

Appellant’s next point of error is that the trial court erred in precluding the jury from considering the opinions of the witness Willard Hall as to the market value of. the property based upon the income approach.

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Bluebook (online)
431 S.W.2d 927, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2387, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/huckabee-v-state-texapp-1968.