Moorlane Company v. Highway Department

384 S.W.2d 415, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2385
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 26, 1964
Docket7408
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 384 S.W.2d 415 (Moorlane Company v. Highway Department) 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
Moorlane Company v. Highway Department, 384 S.W.2d 415, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2385 (Tex. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

NORTHCUTT, Justice.

This is a suit for damages in the nature of inverse condemnation. Appellants, plaintiffs below, brought this action against the State of Texas, the Highway Department of the State of Texas, and the City of Amarillo seeking to recover compensation for an alleged partial taking of the property rights of access.

Appellants are the owner and lessee of Lots 3, 4, and 5, Block No. 3 of the Glidden and Sanborn addition to the City of Amarillo. This property abuts upon the west side of Pierce Street and the north side of South Second Street in the City of Amarillo. Located on or very near the appellants’ property line, where the same abuts upon Pierce Street, is a brick building. In the east wall of appellants’ building is a truck bay which is used to load and unload trucks •serving appellants’ business. Appellees pursuant to a minute order of the State Highway Commission of Texas and an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Amarillo have constructed a controlled access highway through the City of Amarillo. In the construction of this highway Pierce Street, in front of appellants’ property, has been altered or changed from its previous condition. Prior to the highway construction Pierce Street consisted of a right-of-way 80 feet wide and a pavement 49 feet wide for traffic traveling north and south. The right-of-way of Pierce Street was widened from 80 feet to 112 feet. None of appellants’ land was taken or utilized in the project. The center 54 feet of Pierce Street now consists of an overpass over the Burlington Railroad Station which carries three lanes of traffic on 40 feet of roadway. On each side of the overpass there is a one-way service road 26 feet wide and a sidewalk 3 feet wide.

This is the second appeal of this case by appellants. The first appeal was from the judgment of the trial court denying a temporary writ of injunction wherein the appellants had sought to restrain the appellees from constructing the Pierce Street overpass. The court affirmed the judgment of the trial court and application for writ of error was refused. Moorlane Company v. State, Tex.Civ.App., 360 S.W.2d 918 (error refused). This prior appeal arising out of a suit in equity did not involve the legal remedy of appellants to maintain a suit for damages. Therefore, the appellants brought the present suit seeking damage to their property. Both the appellants and ap-pellees filed a motion for summary judgment in the trial court seeking judgment on the issue of liability vel non of the appellees. Appellants in their motion for summary judgment sought an interlocutory summary judgment establishing that the appellees were liable for damages to the appellants and to set the issue of damages for trial by a jury and that the court issue its writ of inquisition therefor. By such actions the opposing parties agree that the controlling question here involved is one of law and not of fact. The trial court determined that the pleadings, motions, and related papers and exhibits on file in this cause conclusively establish that there was ni genuine issue as to any material fact herein and that the appellees were entitled *417 to judgment as a matter of law and thereafter entered a judgment for the appellees. It is from that judgment that the appellants perfected this appeal.

Appellants present this appeal upon two points of error and present the points under five propositions as follows:

APPELLANTS’ POINTS OF ERROR

“1. The Trial Court erred in granting Summary Judgment to Appellees.
“2. The Trial Court erred in refusing to grant partial Summary Judgment -to Appellants.
“PROPOSITIONS UNDER APPELLANTS’ POINTS OF ERROR
“PROPOSITION NO. I
“Appellants own as an appurtenance to their property which actually physically abuts upon Pierce Street the private right to use the full width of Pierce Street to back trucks into the truck bay in their building.
“PROPOSITION NO. II
“The construction of the approaches to the overpass in front of Appellants’ property has materially interfered with and diminished their private right to use the full width of Pierce Street as á means of access to their actually physically abutting property.
“PROPOSITION NO. Ill
“The diminution of the width of Pierce Street available to Appellants in connection with the use of their property and the construction of the overpass constitutes a damage to Appellants’ property.
“PROPOSITION NO. IV
“The Appellees may not under the guise of the exercise of police power deny the Appellants their previously existing access to Pierce Street from their actually physically abutting property without responding to Appellants for damages resulting therefrom.
“PROPOSITION NO. V
“The Appellees may not under the guise of the exercise of police power materially impair or diminish the Appellants’ rights of previously existing access to Pierce Street from their actually physically abutting property without responding to Appellants for damages resulting therefrom.”

Prior to the time the City built the overpass the appellants had been using practically all of Pierce Street in backing large trucks up to a truck bay which was used to lead and' unload trucks serving appellants’ business. On each side of the overpass there is a one-way service road or street 26 feet wide and a sidewalk 3 feet wide. The sole question here seems to be whether the court erred in holding as a matter of law the appellants were not entitled to recover any damages.

It is stated in the case of Pennysavers Oil Company v. State, Tex.Civ.App., 334 S.W.2d 546 (writ refused) as follows:

“The State has the right under the provisions of Art. 6674w, supra, and its police power to provide for one-way traffic, no U turns, division barriers, no left or right turns, traffic lanes, speeding and parking regulations, circuitous routes; for the changing of highways generally, and is not responsible for loss of trade to abutting landowners as a result of the exercise of this police power, so long as it does not amount to a complete taking of the right of access. City of San Antonio v. Pigeonhole Parking of Texas, Inc., [158 Tex. 318] 311 S.W.2d 218 [73 A. L.R.2d 640]; Grapotte v. Adams, supra ; State, By and Through State Highway Commission v. Burk (Oregon) supra.” (Emphases ours.)

After building the overpass which extended down Pierce Street past the appel *418 lants’ property, it left a one-way street in front of appellants’ property 26 feet wide and did not amount to a complete taking of the right of access. See also Lysaght v. City of Fort Worth, Tex.Civ.App., 359 S.W.2d 128

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Bluebook (online)
384 S.W.2d 415, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moorlane-company-v-highway-department-texapp-1964.