Restland Memorial Park v. United States

142 F. Supp. 879, 136 Ct. Cl. 176, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 114
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJune 5, 1956
DocketNo. 50257
StatusPublished

This text of 142 F. Supp. 879 (Restland Memorial Park v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Restland Memorial Park v. United States, 142 F. Supp. 879, 136 Ct. Cl. 176, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 114 (cc 1956).

Opinion

Jones, Ohief Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff sues for compensation for the alleged temporary taking of all or a part of a cemetery known as Restland Memorial Park located in Los Angeles County, California.

The time involved is from April 1,1942, to June 80,1946.

The plaintiff claims that the defendant used the portion of the premises actually occupied in such a way as to deprive [178]*178the plaintiff of the normal use of the remainder, and therefore in effect requisitioned the entire cemetery.

It is the defendant’s position that it took only a very small portion of the cemetery and adequately compensated plaintiff for a part of that which was taken.

In the year 1928 a part of the tract involved known as Unit No. 1 was dedicated under the Health and Safety Code of the State of California and the laws of the city of Burbank to be held, occupied, and used exclusively for cemetery purposes, and in September 1938 Unit No. 2 was added in the same fashion. The total area included in the cemetery was 13.1945 acres.

The premises were first dedicated for the purposes indicated by Aimee Semple McPherson with the title Blessed Hope Memorial Park. It met with financial difficulties and was involved in bankruptcy proceedings.

On the south and west sides of the cemetery in question was another cemetery called Valhalla, which covered a large area, which had been in operation for years. On the north side of the property involved was a railroad freight line just across a boulevard. Immediately beyond the railroad is the location of the Lockheed Air Terminal and Aircraft Manufacturing Plant which occupies an area of about one square mile. On account of the railroad and the operations of the Aircraft Plant the neighborhood is noisy and there is considerable traffic nearby.

These facts were undoubtedly known to the people who formed the plaintiff corporation which was organized in 1941 to acquire and operate the premises for cemetery purposes. When the plaintiff corporation acquired the premises in October 1941 the eastern portion described as Unit No. 1, had been sodded and contained small bronze markers scattered over the area by which it was possible to locate various graves. On Unit No. 1 there was also located a crematorium-office building. The western portion, or Unit No. 2, was not in sod and in that unit no burials had taken place.

At the time plaintiff acquired the premises there were outstanding a number of contracts for the sale of grave sites to private persons. Each contract provided for the sale of [179]*179a block of six sites, the price of each, block being $200. The purchasers under these contracts were in arrears in 1941 and since the plaintiff had succeeded to the rights and obligations of its predecessor it collected small sums from time to time which it applied to the purchase price. In its continuing operations the plaintiff’s practice was to sell grave sites directly to morticians for immediate use. The record does not show that any grave sites were sold after plaintiff acquired the property and before the Government entered a portion of the premises.

On April 1, 1942, the defendant took for public use a portion of the western end of Unit No. 2, the amount taken being 100 by 200 feet, with access thereto from the boulevard on the north. The purpose of the taking was to provide a site for antiaircraft gun emplacements and appurtenances of a temporary nature.

On July 1, 1942, the plaintiff gave the defendant permission to use the entire premises for camouflage purposes. Pursuant to that permit the Army disked or harrowed the entire premises and refrained from watering them in order that the premises would not be visible to a possible enemy as a green spot adjacent to an important aircraft factory.

On November 20, 1942, an order was entered in a case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, awarding to the United States the right to immediate possession of a portion of the premises consisting of 10,000 square feet, together with ingress and egress privileges, and a short time thereafter an amended complaint was filed covering an additional 10,000 square feet, and an order was signed by the District judge granting immediate possession of an additional 10,000 square feet, the total amount covered by the two orders being .46 of an acre. Following these orders a proceeding was had in the District Court and a decree signed vesting in the United States the right of use and occupancy for a term of years in .46 of an acre.

In a jury trial the fair rental value of the premises was found to be $483.33, as full compensation for the term November 20,1942 to June 30,1944. In addition the sum of $966.66 was found to represent the amount by which the remainder [180]*180of the premises had been damaged by reason of the severance for the period in question.

By the terms of the decree the rental period was extended at the option of the United States for yearly periods thereafter during the existing national emergency. The amount awarded as just compensation for the area thus taken was paid in full not only for the period named in the decree, but also for the extended period to June 30,1946, additional compensation for the extended term being paid on the same basis.

While in possession of the tract of .46 of an acre the defendant constructed a barracks building, a latrine building and some excavations for gun emplacements on the tract. The damaged portions of the redwood curbing along the driveways cost $640 to replace, which sum has not been paid by the defendant.

On a number of items of damages the proof is rather vague and uncertain. It is therefore difficult in some instances to tell whether plaintiff is entitled to recover, and in other instances as to the amount of damages. The evidence shows that two barriers were erected along the old driveway near the southeast corner of the property, but it does not establish whether they were erected by the defendant as a security measure, or whether by the plaintiff to keep unauthorized persons from entering other portions of the premises from the roadway. At any rate, the evidence does not indicate that there was any objection on the part of the plaintiff to the barricade.

In addition to the buildings erected on the .46 of an acre tract the defendant erected a small wooden building about 6 by 6 feet, and a tent on another portion of the premises. The tent was removed a short time after it had been so placed. The evidence is not at all clear as to how much additional property was thus actually used. However, the defendant has admitted that it did occupy an additional 1.371 acres.

While the defendant was in possession of the area in question, the City Council of the city of Burbank, on June 8, 1943, approved an application by the plaintiff to be authorized to use the westerly 800 feet of the premises for auto[181]*181mobile parking for the duration of the war, notwithstanding the property had been zoned exclusively for cemetery purposes. The plaintiff devoted the area, comprising approximately two acres, to parking purposes, and received income from parked automobiles, the amount of which the record does not disclose.

At the expiration of the term of use by the defendant the plaintiff submitted to the Department of the Army a claim for restoration.

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Bluebook (online)
142 F. Supp. 879, 136 Ct. Cl. 176, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/restland-memorial-park-v-united-states-cc-1956.