People ex rel. Department of Public Works v. City of Los Angeles

273 Cal. App. 2d 46, 77 Cal. Rptr. 875, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2140
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 16, 1969
DocketCiv. No. 32881
StatusPublished

This text of 273 Cal. App. 2d 46 (People ex rel. Department of Public Works v. City of Los Angeles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. Department of Public Works v. City of Los Angeles, 273 Cal. App. 2d 46, 77 Cal. Rptr. 875, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2140 (Cal. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

STEPHENS, J.

This appeal is from a judgment in an eminent domain action following trial by jury. The State Department of Public Works (State) is the condemning body, and the City of Los Angeles (City) is the property owner. ‘The property condemned consisted of a portion of a City park commonly known as the “Victory-Van Owen Park,” and was taken for freeway and stormdrain purposes. Though all of the property necessary for the State’s purposes is within the park area, various “parcel” designations used in the pleadings and in the trial refer to portions or the whole of lots shown on a tract map. The trial of the condemnation action took 10 weeks, and the transcript extends to over 3,250 pages. The valuation for all the property taken was fixed at $4,379,122. The appraised value placed on the property by the owner was $5,774,749, and by the condemner, a low of $1,809,315. The appeal is not unexpected, though the questions raised are but four in number—a considerable compliment to the acumen of the trial judge.

Since a portion of a City park was being condemned, reference must be made to Streets and Highways Code section 103.5,1 which authorizes the taking, and section 103.7,2 which [49]*49sets forth the method or theory of market valuation, premised upon the park land not being subject to a dedication to park purposes..

Section 103.7 was added to the Streets and Highways Code and became effective on September 20, 1963. This section specifies the method of valuation of park property in eminent domain actions. The effective date of this section was some three months plus after the filing of the instant action, and at the time of trial a question was raised as to the applicability of the section. The trial court determined that the section did apply, and neither party now questions that conclusion. We therefore need not analyze the correctness of the holding as to the application of the statement of law generally, but we do adopt the parties’ acquiescence as either establishing the rule of law as to this case, or as a waiver of any additional claim of damages which may have existed under a broader legal rule. (Cf. People ex rel. Dept, of Public Works v. City of Los Angeles, 220 Cal.App.2d 345 [33 Cal.Rptr. 797].)3 Reference to both Streets and Highways Code section 103.7 and to 220 Cal.App.2d 345 informs us that, to arrive at a fair market value of property taken for freeway purposes, the value is not based on the property’s value as park property. In this respect, wé note that the first sentence of section 103.7 is a codification of the law pronounced in 220 Cal.App.2d 345. The court in the cited ease recognized that market value of land was that value which a willing buyer would pay in the light of all the uses to which the land was adaptable and available and that value which a willing seller would accept, he having full knowledge of its uses. The factors entering into market value included not only the ground contour and condition, but both existing and prospective community needs, as well as present limitations of use (legal restrictions) plus the reason[50]*50able probability of alteration of such limitations of use (zone changes). As in People ex rel. Dept, of Public Works v. Arthofer, 245 Cal.App.2d 454, 462-463 [54 Cal.Rptr. 878], it is recognized that “ [t]he jury is entitled to consider those factors which a buyer would take into consideration in arriving at fair market value in the event said buyer contemplated a purchase of the property. [Citations.] Plausible and probable changes in the character of the neighborhood and in the zoning restrictions in the area constitute factors which a buyer would consider in arriving at an opinion as to the fair market value. [Citations.]. . . . The general rule is that present market value must be determined only by uses for which land is adaptable and available. [Citations].’’ (Italics added.)

It is apparent that there would exist no “willing purchaser” (excluding some other governmental body) to purchase a dedicated park if there were no other use possible; hence, either the value of the park property would be nil, as reasoned in 220 Cal.App.2d 345, or the' restrictive park use would have to be disregarded, placing the property in the same zoning status in which it had been before the park use limitation was imposed. That is, if the property had been zoned R-l before it was dedicated to park use, for condemnation purposes it would be considered as zoned R-l at time of trial. By this fiction, a presumptive “willing buyer” could be envisioned. Though this rule had been formed through case law, it was not until the enactment of section 103.7 of the Streets and Highways Code that it was codified.

Of course, once the fiction of the dissipation of park use limitation was effective, the property involved became like any other piece of property, and its market value depended not on its then use, but on the reasonable probability of its use for the highest and best (most valuable) use. (People v. Loop, 127 Cal.App.2d 786 [274 P.2d 885] ; City of Napa v. Navoni, 56 Cal.App.2d 289 [132 P.2d 566].)

The major contention made here revolves around the establishment of valuation of the condemned property and around the question of potential zoning. Except for two “parcels,” each comparatively small in consideration of the entire acreage taken, the State’s appraisers and the City’s appraiser differed in opinion as to the “reasonable probable zoning” of the property. So far as the property to be taken for freeway use is concerned, as distinguished from that remaining, the applicability of rules- relating to market value as above set [51]*51forth were not in dispute between the parties. The importance of the difference in the opinions as to the “probable zoning” is apparent by reference to a portion of the property designated “Parcel 1A,” though it relates to nearly all of the other parcels. As to Parcel 1A, the State’s appraisers concluded the probable zoning, disassociating the property from park dedication, would be “B-l” (single-family residence), “B-4” (multiple-dwelling residences), and “park” (Parking use), and valued this parcel at $25,000 or $27,500 pér acre for the greatest portion thereof (B-l), $40,000 for a part thereof (B-4), and $65,000 to $75,000 for a small portion as “Park.” The total market value placed on Parcel 1A by the State was $736,150. The City, however, took the position that the probable zoning would be “OomT” (commercial), and valued it at $131,000 per acre, or a total market value of $2,588,214. Since all of the property being taken was held for City park property but, as “plain” property, before park purpose dedication, had been zoned B-l and B-A (residential, agriculture), the issue of any reasonable probability of a zone change was most critical. It is towards the discrepancy in the various appraisers ’ opinions that the first posed claim of error is directed.

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Bluebook (online)
273 Cal. App. 2d 46, 77 Cal. Rptr. 875, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-department-of-public-works-v-city-of-los-angeles-calctapp-1969.