South Buffalo Railway Co. v. Kirkover

86 A.D. 55, 83 N.Y.S. 613, 1903 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2303
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJuly 1, 1903
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 86 A.D. 55 (South Buffalo Railway Co. v. Kirkover) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
South Buffalo Railway Co. v. Kirkover, 86 A.D. 55, 83 N.Y.S. 613, 1903 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2303 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1903).

Opinion

McLennan, J.:

¡No question is presented for review except as to the amount of the award, and as to the reception by the commissioners of certain evidence which it is claimed was incompetent and was prejudicial to the appellant. -

The report or award of the commissioners which assumed to fix the compensation to which the defendants are entitled, so far as it is important to note, is as follows:

“To HenryD. Kirkover and Emma J. Kirkover, his wife, and Henry Koons, as. and for compensation for the lands and premises aforesaid which are actually taken in this action or proceeding, the sum of ten thousand five hundred dollars ($10,500.00), and as -compensation for the damages to the remainder of the parcel of land owned by said defendants out of which the lands and premises described in said petition and order are taken, excluding therefrom, however, by consent of counsel for defendants, such portion of said lands as lie
At the request of counsel for the defendants, we do further separately report, that in fixing and determining such compensation and award, your Commissioners have taken into consideration the question whether the lands and premises of said defendants, not taken in this proceeding aforesaid, have been in any way damaged and depreciated in value by the construction and use and operation of the railroad of the plaintiff adjoining the lands of said defendants and beyond the boundary lines of the parcel taken herein, and they find and have determined that said lands and premises of said defendants not taken have not been, and will not be, in any way thereby damaged or depreciated; and at the request of counsel for plaintiff they have also taken into consideration the question as to whether any allowance or deduction should be made from said compensation on account of any real or supposed benefits which the defendant land owners have derived, or may derive, from the public use for which the property aforesaid is taken, or the construction of any proposed improvement connected with such public use, and they find and have determined that no such allowance or deduction should be made on account thereof, because there are no such and will be no such real or supposed benefits derived by the land owners from such public use of the property taken, or the construction of any proposed improvement connected with such public use.”

The premises in question consisted of a tract of vacant land situate in the southerly part of the city of Buffalo, comprising sixty-nine acres. It was bounded on the westerly side by the Western New York and Pennsylvania railway, New York, Chicago and St. Louis railway, Erie railroad and Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad, and on the easterly side by the Buffalo, Rochester [58]*58and Pittsburg railroad, each of which railroads was being operated upon an embankment several feet above the surface of the adjacent lands. By this proceeding the plaintiff sought to acquire, for the purposes of its railroad, seven and eighty-six one-thousandths acres of said premises, being the northwesterly corner of the tract.

The evidence, which is voluminous, with great accuracy described the entire tract, its contour, elevation, location and surroundings, its accessibility from existing highways and" other contemplated streets; the use or purpose to which it is adapted and its value for the same. The portion of the premises proposed to be taken by the plaintiff is also minutely described, and its situation or location with reference to the rest of the tract*; the manner in which it' is proposed by the plaintiff to use such portion; the fact that' the tracks of the plaintiff are-to be elevated; the extent of such elevation;* that the cars and engines are to be operated by steam; in fact, the evidence presented a picture of the situation as it would exist' after; the construction of plaintiff’s railroad as contemplated or intended1 by it; and by consent, the plaintiff having been given possession of* the premises, and having constructed and put in operation its railroad prior to the Hearing, the commissioners were enabled to see* the conditions as-they actually existed, and observe* the consequences resulting therefrom.

The commission,-after hearing all the evidence and after viewing the premises, determined that the valúe of the land actually taken was. $10,500, and that the damages resulting to the portion not taken; by reason of taking the seven acres and the construction and ópera-' tion of plaintiff’s railroad thereon, was the sum of $41,500, and that, therefore, the defendants were entitled to the award, viz., $52,000. *

It would not be useful to call attention specifically to the evidence" which formed the basis for such award. It is sufficient to say that nine witnesses called by the defendants placed the damages sustained on account of the taking of the seven acres' for pláintiff’s use, add the damages resulting to the remainder of the tract by such use, at from $78,750 . to. $104,499, the average of the amounts as' estimated by such witnesses-..being. $94,485. The amounts-fixed by' the witnesses called by ..the plaintiff were mftch-' smaller, and their : average much less than the. award. .The.-commissioners were- lead[59]*59ing citizens of the city of Buffalo, men of judgment and experience, and it is not suggested that their award did not represent their honest, and best judgment.

By a considerable amount of the evidence adduced by the respondents, it was sought to establish that as a result of the construction and operation of the appellant’s railroad upon the portion of the premises taken, the view from the remaining portion would be obstructed ; that it would be subjected to great quantities of smoke, dust and cinders from passing engines and trains, all of which would greatly damage the remaining property ; and it was insisted that such elements of damage should be taken into consideration by the commissioners in fixing the amount of the award.

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Related

Spencer v. State
194 A.D. 79 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1920)

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Bluebook (online)
86 A.D. 55, 83 N.Y.S. 613, 1903 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2303, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/south-buffalo-railway-co-v-kirkover-nyappdiv-1903.