Palizzi v. City of Brighton

228 P.3d 957, 2010 Colo. LEXIS 229, 2010 WL 1006666
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMarch 22, 2010
DocketNo. 08SC1026
StatusPublished
Cited by186 cases

This text of 228 P.3d 957 (Palizzi v. City of Brighton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palizzi v. City of Brighton, 228 P.3d 957, 2010 Colo. LEXIS 229, 2010 WL 1006666 (Colo. 2010).

Opinions

Justice HOBBS

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

In this eminent domain action for property it desired for road improvements, the City of Brighton ("Brighton") condemned approximately 0.8 acres of agricultural land owned by Debora M. Palizzi, Gloria A. Bennett, and Palizzi & Son, Inc. (collectively "the Paliz-zig"). A jury awarded $204,387.15 as just compensation for the taken property, based on its highest and best use being for commercial and residential development. Brighton valued the property at $35,250. Brighton contends that the same strip of property would have to be dedicated to it should the entire Palizzi property be annexed and the use changed for commercial and residential development. However, the Palizzis were not seeking to develop any of the property when Brighton initiated its condemnation action. We granted certiorari to determine whether valuation evidence in the condemnation proceeding should be limited, as Brighton argues, to the property's existing use when dedication of the road improvement strip would be required as a condition for future development of the entire property.1

In City of Brighton v. Palizzi, the court of appeals held that, where condemned undeveloped land would have to be dedicated as a condition of development, the land must be valued based only on uses to which the property could be put in the absence of rezoning or development approval. 214 P.3d 470, 476 (Colo.App.2008). The court of appeals further ruled that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence that relied on the entire property's potential for development; it determined that the trial court should have granted Brighton's motion in limine to exelude such evidence. We disagree and reverse the court of appeals' judgment.

We agree with the trial court. In accordance with our expansive evidentiary rules for property valuation in condemnation cases, we hold that all evidence relevant to the determination of the present market value of condemned property is admissible, including evidence of the most advantageous potential future use of the entire property, even if the condemned property would need to be dedicated as part of annexation and rezoning of the entire property in the future. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying Brighton's motion in limine.

I.

In 2005, Brighton sought to widen and improve Bromley Lane into a four-lane, divided street with turn lanes and a raised median. In order to complete these improvements, Brighton needed to acquire an additional seventy-foot-wide strip of land from properties on the south side of Bromley Lane. The Palizzis own two of these parcels [960]*960(the "entire property"). The parcels are located in unineorporated Adams County, adjacent to the Brighton city limits, and contiguous to each other. One parcel is 19.77 acres; the other is 34 acres. Both are zoned Adams County Agricultural A-1 and are currently used for agricultural purposes. The entire property, consisting of these two parcels, is flat and uniform.

Both parties agree that the entire property's most advantageous use was for commercial and residential development. However, an intergovernmental agreement between Brighton and Adams County prohibits the development or rezoning of the property unless it is annexed by Brighton. The parties do not dispute that the same agreement requires the landowner seeking annexation to dedicate the same seventy-foot-wide strip of land bordering Bromley Lane. The Palizzis have not sought or obtained any of the required approvals for development and contend that they had no specific plans to sell or develop the land when Brighton initiated the condemnation.

The entire property was originally part of the Palizzi family farm, which consisted of approximately 120 acres with boundaries established by Bromley Lane to the north, Sable Boulevard to the west, and Fulton Ditch to the south and east. The property lies between two other former Palizzi farm parcels along Bromley Lane that have been subdivided and developed.

In 1999, the estate of Margaret Palizzi and Palizzi & Son, Inc. sold 15.66 acres of the northwest corner of the farm (the "Palizzi I parcel"), at the corner of Bromley Lane and Sable Boulevard, to a commercial developer. The developer bought the property for $2,673,200 ($3.92 per square foot), conditioned upon the developer obtaining all nee-essary approvals for the contemplated development, including annexation of the property by Brighton and rezoning of the property from agricultural to commercial. The conditions of the sale were satisfied; however, Brighton required the developer to dedicate fee title to a strip of land for the widening of Bromley Lane. In 2002, to accommodate this dedication requirement, the developer purchased an additional 1.8-acre parcel from the Palizzis for $4.00 per square foot, approximately the same price as the initial purchase. The Palizzi I parcel was developed into a shopping center anchored by a King Soopers supermarket.

In 2002, approximately 40 acres of the southeast corner of the Palizzi farm was annexed to Brighton (the "Palizzi II parcel")2 Brighton required the owner, as a condition of the annexation, to dedicate a seventy-foot-wide strip of the property bordering Bromley Lane. In July 2005, the owner sold the agriculturally-zoned parcel to a developer for $2,456,630 ($1.42 per square foot). The developer subdivided and rezoned the property, and, in November 2006,3 sold the western 10.9 acres (rezoned for commercial use) for $8.44 per square foot. The remainder of that property, a little over 28 acres, was rezoned multi-family residential.

In the present action, Brighton sought fee title to the northern seventy feet of property situated between the Palizzi I and Palizzi II parcels, amounting to approximately 0.8 acres, and a permanent slope easement on another ten feet, amounting to approximately 0.1 acres, to widen Bromley Lane. On February 1, 2006, the Palizzis agreed to allow Brighton to take possession of the road improvement strip to complete the project, pending an anticipated condemnation action to determine just compensation for the strip. The date of this agreement is the date employed for valuation purposes. This action commenced to determine the market value of the road improvement strip at the time of the condemnation.

Both parties hired experienced appraisers to value the conderaned seventy-foot-wide strip. Both appraisers relied on the comparable sales or market data approach and agreed that the highest and best use for the entire property was mixed-use-commercial and residential-development. However, the appraisers reached different valuations.

[961]*961The Palizzis' appraiser valued the property at approximately $4.23 per square foot, taking account of the entire property's development potential and discounting the costs associated with development-including costs such as annexation, rezoning, and platting. In doing so, the Palizzis' appraiser considered the dedication requirement in reaching his valuation and testified that developers will consider a dedication requirement as part of their development costs when determining what to pay for a parcel of raw land.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
228 P.3d 957, 2010 Colo. LEXIS 229, 2010 WL 1006666, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palizzi-v-city-of-brighton-colo-2010.