Rockaway Peninsula Corp. v. State

47 Misc. 2d 114, 262 N.Y.S.2d 670, 1965 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1566
CourtNew York Court of Claims
DecidedAugust 23, 1965
DocketClaims Nos. 38400 and 39996
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 47 Misc. 2d 114 (Rockaway Peninsula Corp. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rockaway Peninsula Corp. v. State, 47 Misc. 2d 114, 262 N.Y.S.2d 670, 1965 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1566 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1965).

Opinion

Alexander Del Giorno, J.

In these claims there are two separate properties, one located east of, and the other located west of Roekaway Turnpike in the village of Inwood, Town of Hempstead, Nassau County. These properties were used by claimant Roekaway Peninsula Corporation for its operations as a discount house. The specific descriptions and operation of the properties are generally set out in the findings of fact submitted by the parties hereto and within this amended memorandum decision.

In this amended memorandum decision the court attempts to answer the many findings which have been marked Refused ” or “ Refused except as found ”, as well as set forth the many con[116]*116elusions arrived at by the court as a result of the testimony and the viewings of the properties.

The court will treat each property separately, starting with the property involved on the west side, the taking of which is described in Claim No. 38400.

The claim of Bargaintown, U. S. A. No. 2 Corp. is a fixtures claim which will be referred to at the end of this amended memorandum decision.

Claimant bought land on the west side of Bockaway Turnpike because it needed to expand as its business was booming. It is obvious that it would promptly proceed to fill and bulkhead, else the land would be useless.

What was not done by the time of vesting was generally contracted for and, as a result, by May 12, 1961, the new building-consisting of an area of 160,000 square feet was completed and the entire frontage all black-topped, including most of the area taken by the State.

The proper evaluation for this land, consisting of 18.604 acres, must take into account the obvious. Admittedly, some 92,800 cubic yards of fill had been pumped into the land and the man-made canal which ran through the land; also, some fill had been placed thereon by Concord Oil Co., a neighbor and friend, as a favor to claimant, while claimant was awaiting a permit to pump sand from the bay from the Town of Hempstead. During this period of waiting for a permit, claimant also placed some 27,000 cubic yards of truck fill on the land and had erected, or contracted to erect, bulkheads to contain the filied-in land.

In awarding damages, the court disregards the paving done by the claimant, for the reason that it was done after the vesting date and may not be considered as contracted for, and because that portion of the paving which covers the State acquisition was a voluntary act on the part of the claimant which it performed for its own business advantage or necessity.

However, taking the land as we have done, we must also consider its location, the over-900-feet frontage on Bockaway Turnpike, one of the busiest highways between Queens and Nassau Counties, the use which its zoning permitted, the large area available for such use and for parking of cars so essential in a business of that type; also, its nearness and accessibility to many major highways on the south shore of Long Island, the scarcity of such large parcels and the large residential population nearby which also contributed to claimant’s business. As we have stated, we can more justly assign a value to the land on the date of vesting by keeping in mind these attributes.

[117]*117Mr. Wittman, the claimant’s appraiser, assigns $1.50 a square foot for 810,390 square feet of land within the bulkheads, or $1,215,585. Mr. Brons, the State’s appraiser, assigns 50 cents a square foot for 777,875 square feet, or $388,950. The court feels that the testimony and exhibits of the claimant are more persuasive than the State’s computation of the area of the land content within the bulkhead, and accepts them. Therefore, if we apply Mr. Brons’ square-foot value on the basis of 810,390 square feet, it actually would be $405,195 before the vesting.

It must be borne in mind that Mr. Brons stated that, in arriving at his value of 50 cents a square foot, he based his judgment on the raw land as of the time it was purchased by claimant. He did not consider fill, nor how much was required, when he inspected the land on May 27,1961. In his appraisal he states: “As of the date of appropriation, the appraiser had no knowledge of any fill or bulkheading as being installed by the owner.” Nevertheless, Mr. Brons testified that, upon inspection, he found that some 3 acres of the land taken was filled in, in addition to the claimant’s remainder of the land which he said he noticed was at grade at Rockaway Turnpike, from which it receded to a grade lower by 2 feet as it extended westerly.

Mr. Brons testified that if he had assumed the subject property to be on grade, he would have given it, in 1960, a value of $1 a square foot over-all, which involved his assumption that to the cost of the raw land he would add the cost of fill, etc., to arrive at said value.

The court, after hearing the many analyses of the comparable sales offered, the testimony of the various witnesses and a third viewing by it of the land and area surrounding it, concludes that the value of said land at the time of the vesting was $891,429, rounded to $891,500, allocating to it a square-foot value of $1.10.

The parties agree that the taking involved 235,850 square feet [5.414 acres]. The court agrees with claimant that the remainder, consisting of 574,540 square feet, is divided into two parcels. One parcel, which contained 7,252 square feet, ran along the southerly line of the portion taken and is landlocked. To this piece the court allocates a nominal value of $500, since the adjoining owner could add it to his holding and, in the opinion of the court, would gladly pay $500.

The remaining 567,288 square feet form the bulk of the usable land upon which now stands the large, modern, steel and brick discount building. A very excellent aerial photo is annexed to the first page of claimant’s appraisal. This photo delineates in green color the boundaries of the claimant’s lands on both sides [118]*118of Rockaway Turnpike and, in red and white lines, delineates the State’s taking.

This photo shows clearly how much of the State’s land was filled, as well as paved by the claimant, but it also shows the loss of nearly 700 feet of frontage. This photo may be studied in conjunction with claimant’s Exhibit 1, which is a location plan of the proposed Nassau Expressway and which shows that Ramp G, leading southeasterly from the proposed Expressway, by-passes the claimant’s remainder land to the benefit of Korvette, which adjoins claimant’s remainder on the southeast thereof, thus preventing the southbound traffic upon the Expressway from going into the claimant’s store, the business of which depends largely upon easy, direct approach by vehicle from the highway. The claimant will have the benefit of the 32-foot west service road which leads southward from Rockaway Turnpike, but which is one-way and can be compared only to a local street. For northbound traffic on the Expressway, ramp B may be used to descend to Rockaway Turnpike after which, by roundabout turns, one may go to claimant’s land. The claimant may not recover for circuity of access, but this element is brought out here to indicate what are the probable future travails of this claimant.

Inasmuch as the Expressway is expected to be some 20 feet high where it crosses Rockaway Turnpike, it must be assumed and, as a matter of fact, it was testified, that embankments will be erected. To what extent these will adversely affect the remainder is now a mere conjecture.

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Related

In re the City of New York
76 A.D.2d 349 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1980)
Beltrone v. State
63 Misc. 2d 389 (New York State Court of Claims, 1970)
Rockaway Peninsula Corp. v. State
29 A.D.2d 997 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
47 Misc. 2d 114, 262 N.Y.S.2d 670, 1965 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rockaway-peninsula-corp-v-state-nyclaimsct-1965.