State Department of Transportation v. Myers

237 So. 2d 257, 1970 Fla. App. LEXIS 6143
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 30, 1970
DocketNo. N-224
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 237 So. 2d 257 (State Department of Transportation v. Myers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Department of Transportation v. Myers, 237 So. 2d 257, 1970 Fla. App. LEXIS 6143 (Fla. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

WIGGINTON, Judge.

Petitioner seeks review by common law certiorari of an order of taking rendered by the trial court in an eminent domain action. By its order the court found that petitioner had exceeded its delegated authority and was acting arbitrarily in its attempt to appropriate by this proceeding certain lands allegedly required by it for providing limited access to an interchange on an interstate highway being constructed by petitioner.

Although the challenged order is not one from which an interlocutory appeal will lie, since it relates to the issue of necessity for taking land sought to be appropriated by eminent domain we exercise our constitutional discretion and consent to hear and determine the petition now before us for consideration.1

Petitioner is in the process of constructing Interstate Highway 10 on a course generally eastward from Pensacola to Jacksonville. The route of the highway will intersect State Road 83, a north and south primary state road, at a point south of DeFuniak Springs. Petitioner has found it necessary and advisable to construct an interchange at the point of intersection between the two aforementioned highways. In this connection, what is referred to as a diamond-type intersection has been designed which will permit an interchange of traffic from and to each of the highways in question.

From the allegations of the complaint petitioner seeks to acquire certain strips of land adjacent to State Road 83 north and south of the interchange facility. The strips of land sought to be acquired lie beyond the end of entrance and exit tapers on Road 83 and are for the purpose of providing limited access to that road. Respondent landowners objected to the order of taking on the ground that the amount of land for limited access sought to be acquired was in excess of that which was reasonably necessary for the proper and safe construction of the interchange facility, and the attempt to acquire the excess above the amount needed constituted an arbitrary abuse of discretion which should be denied.

A full evidentiary hearing on the issue of necessity for the taking was held before the court at the conclusion of which the order of taking was rendered which is the subject of this review. By its order the court found that any extension of the limited access beyond 300 feet from the north end of the taper in the northwest quadrant of the interchange and beyond 300 feet south of the end of the taper in the southeast quadrant of the interchange adjacent to Road 83 constituted an arbitrary abuse of authority and was an unjustified attempt to appropriate respondents’ property for public purpose. The effect of the order is to find that no necessity has been established by petitioner for the taking of the full amount of the land sought for limited access purposes, and [259]*259to restrict the taking to the quantity set forth in the order.

At the hearing before the court there was introduced in evidence a copy of the resolution adopted by petitioner in which it certified to the necessity for acquiring the land described in the resolution (and in the petition for condemnation) for the purpose of constructing the interchange facility as a part of Interstate Highway 10. In Stap-lin, supra, in commenting upon the weight to be accorded the determination of an acquiring agency as to the necessity for appropriating private property for public use through the exercise of eminent domain, this court said:

“It appears to be the established law of this state that a public body vested by law with the power of eminent domain is granted a broad discretion in the selection of the particular property to be acquired, as well as the amount and the estate or interest therein which is necessary in order to accommodate the public purpose sought to be served. In making this determination, the acquiring authority may not only consider present demands, but also those which may be reasonably anticipated in the future. The discretion exercised in the discharge of these functions will not generally be interfered with by the courts in the absence of some element of fraud, bad faith, or gross abuse. It is equally well recognized, however, that an acquiring authority will not be permitted to take a greater quantity of property, or a greater interest or estate therein, than is necessary to serve the particular public use for which the property is being acquired.” 2

This court’s decision in Staplin followed the general rule previously pronounced by the Supreme Court in Wilton v. St. Johns County3 as follows:

“ * * * A large discretion is necessarily vested in those who are vested with the power, in determining what property, and how much, is necessary. To warrant a denial of the application, it should appear that what is sought is clearly an abuse of power on the part of the petitioner. It may be said to be a general rule that, unless a corporation exercising the power of eminent domain acts in bad faith or is guilty of oppression, its discretion in the selection of land will not be interfered with. ‘If the petitioner is acting in good faith and shows a reasonable necessity for the condemnation, in view of its present and future business, the application should be granted.’ Lewis’ Em. Dom. § 601; 20 C.J. 632-638.”

With the foregoing basic principles in mind, we turn to the evidence adduced before the court for the purpose of determining whether the act of petitioner in seeking to appropriate for limited access purposes the land sought to be acquired herein is motivated by fraud, bad faith, or gross abuse as referred to in Staplin, supra, or constitutes bad faith or oppression as set forth in Wilton, supra.4 The proof required to demonstrate a necessity for the taking has been defined by the Supreme Court as follows:

“The necessity spoken of need not, according to the authorities we have examined and which we believe to be in the majority, be absolute, but only one that is reasonable and ‘such as would combine the greatest benefit to the public with the least inconvenience and expense to the condemning party’. 20 C.J. page 631.” 5

[260]*260The only expert testimony adduced at the hearing on the issue of necessity was by two engineers presently in the employ of petitioner. Only one of these experts was qualified to give any credible or authoritative testimony concerning the design of the interchange in question and the necessity for acquiring the lands allegedly needed to functionalize the interchange and control vehicular traffic utilizing the two intersecting highways. This witness testified that the design of the interchange and the approaches to it on State Road 83 were influenced in large measure by highway safety factors. He stated that the design was in accordance with recognized engineering principles, and that all of the land described in the petition for condemnation was essential to a proper and safe construction of the interchange and the State Road 83 approaches to it on the north and south.

From the evidence it appears without dispute that the route of Interstate 10 traverses longitudinally a depression in the topography at the point where it intersects State Road 83. The area north and south of the intersection traversed by State Road 83 has a gradual upward slope to a crest several hundred feet distant. The speed limit on Road 83 north of the interchange is fifty miles an hour and south is sixty-five miles an hour.

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Bluebook (online)
237 So. 2d 257, 1970 Fla. App. LEXIS 6143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-department-of-transportation-v-myers-fladistctapp-1970.