Nichols v. City of Cleveland

104 Ohio St. (N.S.) 19
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 24, 1922
DocketNo. 16786
StatusPublished

This text of 104 Ohio St. (N.S.) 19 (Nichols v. City of Cleveland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nichols v. City of Cleveland, 104 Ohio St. (N.S.) 19 (Ohio 1922).

Opinion

Johnson, J.

The paramount and decisive question is: What is the proper rule for the valuation of the property appropriated? The plaintiff in error contends that the courts below entertained an erroneous view as to the law that must govern under the circumstances of this case. The errors complained of relate to the admission and rejection of testimony and to the charge of the trial court. They all disclose the difference in the contentions of the parties as to the proper rule to be followed in the ascertainment of the value of the property.

It is conceded that the tract in question is all included in the connecting parkway between Gordon Park and Wade Park, that it was so included at the [22]*22time of the original appropriation proceeding in 1894, and that there never has been any deviation therefrom. All the property needed for the parkway adjoining the Nichols tract was acquired by the city by negotiation. This left only the Nichols tract, to be acquired by condemnation.

In State, ex rel. Knisely, v. Jones, 66 Ohio St., 453, and State, ex rel. Sheets, Atty. Genl., v. Beacom, 66 Ohio St., 491, decided in June, 1902, this court declared invalid certain classifications of municipalities theretofore made by the legislature, because they were in conflict with the constitution.

The United States court of appeals, therefore, held in the proceeding before it that the statute creating the original park board was invalid, that the original appropriation proceeding was void, and that Miss Nichols was entitled to recover possession of the property, but included in its judgment a condition that the city should have opportunity to begin proper proceedings, to appropriate the premises.

Between the time of the original taking by the city in 1894 and the beginning of the last appropriation proceeding in 1919 the plaintiff in error and her predecessor in title voluntarily conveyed away all frontage of the entire tract theretofore held by them on East 105th street, excepting only the right of way for an alley twelve feet in width extending between East 105th street and the present easterly line of the Nichols land; not a straight alley, but one having an elbow in it. So that when the present proceeding was begun the only means of ingress or egress to and from the tract here involved was over the twelve-foot alley referred to, except over the park driveways constructed by the city in the park. [23]*23Between the time of the first appropriation proceeding and the present one, the city of Cleveland has had a very great growth, and the park, parkway and park drives, including the property in question, have been greatly improved and beautified. Out of this general condition has arisen the difference of opinion between the parties as to the rule to be adopted in determining the value of the property.

The city contends that the difference between the amount of the first verdict, in 1894, for $4,850, and the verdict in the present case in 1919, for $50,000, adequately measures the- increase in values in the meantime, and is that full compensation to which the owner is entitled under the constitution, while the plaintiff in error insists she is entitled to a much larger award.

It is the contention of the plaintiff in error that the trial court erred in ruling that in assessing the full compensation to Miss Nichols for her land under the constitution she was not entitled to any value which the land possessed by reason of its having two park driveways leading to and from it as a means of ingress and egress, and by reason of its being surrounded on the north, south and west by the park and boulevard system connecting Wade and Gordon parks.

The court held that the witnesses and the jury should eliminate from consideration all elements of value contributed to the land by reason of the fact that it was situated in and surrounded by the park and boulevard system in the manner described.

The plaintiff in error argues that the court erred in holding that these 4.22 acres were without any means of ingress or egress save only a narrow, [24]*24crooked and practically useless alley, when in fact one wide boulevard approached and crossed the land from the north to south and another ran along the entire east end thereof, thereby affording complete access to it, and it is contended that the court required the witnesses and jury to assume that all the surrounding and contiguous territory consisted of “just land.”

The defendant in error contends that the Nichols land being one of many parcels of land included in a scheme for a parkway, it necessarily follows that all of said parcels could not be acquired at the same moment of time; that the owner is entitled to the full value of the property taken at the time of the trial for any and all purposes for which it may be used, but is not entitled to the supposed value of that property for a purpose for which it never could be used or occupied.

It is conceded and the court charged that the Nichols property was entitled to the valuation incident to its adaptability for park purposes, or for any other purpose, and to the benefit, if any, accruing from the contemplation of the acquisition of all of the land for park purposes, and that the owner was entitled to the enhanced value of this land at the time of the trial, including all the added value incident to the growth of the city of Cleveland and the great rise in the value of the real estate in the vicinity of the land in question. But it is contended that the property here in question is not entitled to the value it would have, if it had the legal right to insist upon the maintenance of the boulevards on the park property, and it is pointed out that these boulevards are subject to be relocated at the discretion of the [25]*25city and park authorities at any time, and that no person can acquire any vested or property right in the location or continuance of such driveways.

Prior to the taking of the Nichols land in the first appropriation proceeding the city had adopted a comprehensive park plan or scheme, which it proceeded to carry out. In 1897 it had acquired 61 parcels of land to he included in the park scheme, which also included the Nichols tract. At that time Mi'. John D. Rockefeller made a substantial gift to the Cleveland park system. He conveyed 25 parcels of land to the city for park purposes, and by the deed imposed certain conditions upon the 25 parcels and the 61 other parcels which the city had already acquired and was using for park purposes, including the Nichols tract. One condition was “And shall not use the said premises or any part thereof for any other purpose whatsoever. ’ ’ Among the conditions was one that the city should expend in the improvement of the premises for park and park driveway purposes the sum of about $600,000, which was a duplicate of the purchase price paid by the donor for all the different tracts. The deed contained the further agreement that if the city should fail to carry out the conditions named in the grant the deed should become void and the title revert to the grantor or his heirs. This deed was accepted by the council of the city of Cleveland April 6, 1897.

Long prior to any of the proceedings, involved in this case the municipal corporations of Ohio were invested with authority to hold and improve parks and boulevards, and accept devises and gifts therefor. Therefore it will be seen that wholly independent of the validity of the statute creating the board of park [26]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Kerr v. South Park Commissioners
117 U.S. 379 (Supreme Court, 1886)
Shoemaker v. United States
147 U.S. 282 (Supreme Court, 1893)
Boston Chamber of Commerce v. City of Boston
217 U.S. 189 (Supreme Court, 1910)
United States v. Chandler-Dunbar Water Power Co.
229 U.S. 53 (Supreme Court, 1913)
City of El Paso v. Coffin
88 S.W. 502 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1905)
Northern Pacific & Puget Sound Shore Railroad v. Coleman
28 P. 514 (Washington Supreme Court, 1891)
San Diego Land & Town Co. v. Neale
3 L.R.A. 83 (California Supreme Court, 1888)
Dorgan v. City of Boston
94 Mass. 223 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1866)
Benton v. Inhabitants of Brookline
23 N.E. 846 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1890)
Bowditch v. City of Boston
41 N.E. 132 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1895)
Mowry v. City of Boston
53 N.E. 885 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1899)
Smith v. Commonwealth
96 N.E. 666 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1911)
St. Louis Electric Terminal Railway Co. v. MacAdaras
166 S.W. 307 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1914)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
104 Ohio St. (N.S.) 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nichols-v-city-of-cleveland-ohio-1922.