Junction City Water Control District v. Calvert

493 P.2d 76, 8 Or. App. 107, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 1039
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJanuary 28, 1972
DocketNo. 98031
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 493 P.2d 76 (Junction City Water Control District v. Calvert) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Junction City Water Control District v. Calvert, 493 P.2d 76, 8 Or. App. 107, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 1039 (Or. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinions

THORNTON, J.

Plaintiff district initiated a condemnation proceeding to acquire two easements across defendants’ property, which comprised 200 acres of farm land. One easement consisted of the permanent taldng of 12 acres for a drainage ditch, and the other a temporary taking of 32 acres adjacent for purposes of construction. Defendant Calvert did not answer and an order of default was entered against her. Defendants James and Jessie Patterson obtained a verdict and judgment for $36,000, together with interest and an attorney’s fee.

Plaintiff appeals from that judgment, assigning as error the following:

(1) Allowing the defendant James Patterson to testify as to the value of his land, and its highest and best use; and (2) failing to strike the testimony of defendants’ expert witness Mariner as to ‘before’ and ‘after’ value of the land and damages thereto.

Defendant James Patterson, who, together with his wife, was the contract purchaser of the subject property, testified that the ‘before’ value of the property was $200,000 and the ‘after’ value was about $100,-000. He based his ‘before’ value on the fact that he believed his entire tract was suitable for homesite development and felt he could have sold it for $1,000 an [110]*110acre. Mr. Patterson stated that he purchased the land in 1966 for $62,500; that improvements by renters plus esthetic value added $50,000 to $60,000 to the value of the land; that a road easement which he had purchased added another $90,000. Mr. Patterson arrived at his figure for the ‘after’ value by adding the total loss of 12 acres to a $300 loss an acre to the remaining 180 acres.

Mr. Mariner was one of two appraisers hired by defendants Patterson. He stated that he had engaged in appraising real property for 23 years, and that he was employed as a real estate broker and appraiser. He testified that he had approached the problem of compensation from the damage angle; that he first fixed the value of $1,200 an acre for the 45 acres along both sides of the creek which he felt were suitable for homesite development; that he considered the remainder of the land as ordinary farm land and valued it at only $400 an acre; that in response to a leading question from defendants’ counsel which was not objected to, testified that in his opinion the ‘before’ value of the entire property was $125,600, and the ‘after’ value $71,200; that the taking of the easements resulted in damages of $54,400. In explaining how he arrived at his opinion he testified that because the 12 acres constituting the permanent easement were a total loss to the owner and lay in the $1,200 an acre area, this resulted in damages of $14,400. To this figure he added the following: $36,000 damages caused by the devaluation of 45 acres from $1,200 to $400 an acre; $1,000 damages caused by loss of rent of 32 acres of farm land in the temporary easement at the rate of $15 an acre; and $3,000 damages caused by the total loss of a duck pond to the permanent easement, thus arriving at his figure for total damages of $54,400.

[111]*111Other value witnesses, including one called by defendants,

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Related

State Ex Rel. Department of Transportation v. El Dorado Properties
971 P.2d 481 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1998)
Carl v. Department of Revenue
6 Or. Tax 347 (Oregon Tax Court, 1976)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
493 P.2d 76, 8 Or. App. 107, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 1039, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/junction-city-water-control-district-v-calvert-orctapp-1972.