State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Cefalu

273 So. 2d 689, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 6627
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 1, 1973
DocketNo. 9186
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 273 So. 2d 689 (State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Cefalu) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Cefalu, 273 So. 2d 689, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 6627 (La. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

TUCKER, Judge.

This is an expropriation suit. The expropriation was designed to acquire land for the construction of a portion of the Interstate 110 project adjacent to the Airline Highway (U.S. 61) in the area between the Scenic Highway and Plank Road, in Baton Rouge, La. The property taken in full ownership is described in the order of expropriation as being 267.80 feet frontage on the Airline Highway, by an east side depth of 74.26 feet, by a west side depth of 74.59 feet, and 267.80 feet across the rear. In addition to the owner defendant, the lessee of the property, Norman L. Neyland, was made a defendant in the action.

On the south edge or boundary of the property taken is a strip or tract of land thirty (30) feet in width north and south extending east and west for the entire 267.80 feet, which United Gas Pipeline Corporation holds in full ownership. This latter tract intervenes between the land taken from Cefalu and another piece of property in the character of an “L” shape to the south of the United Gas property, which is also owned by Mr. Cefalu. This third piece of land comprises 37,706 square feet with a frontage on Casper Street of sixty (60) feet. Casper Street is a cross street which goes generally north and south, and presently intersects Airline Highway on the northwest corner of the property taken. When the subject highway improvement is completed there will be no access to the Airline for this southerly most Cefalu tract, and its access will be restricted to its 60 foot frontage on Casper Street.

On December 20, 1971 the trial court rendered its reasons for judgment in which it found that the value of the land and improvements taken amounted to the sum of $67,915.00 and severance damages to the remaining property ownership of Mr. Ce-falu south of the United Gas Pipeline piece in the sum of $81,877.00 or a total of $149,702.00. On rehearing when it was shown that the original judgment included severance damages initially awarded for the 8,034 square feet owned by United Gas, a corrected or amended judgment was signed on April 13, 1972 which, inter alia, reduced the severance damages to the sum of $67,785.00. From this judgment the plaintiff State has appealed.

In substance there is no dispute between the litigants on the value of the property taken, and the defendant Neyland has been dismissed as a party by virtue of a stipulated agreement between him and Mr. Ce-falu with respect to the division of such sum as might eventually be recovered.

The sole issue with which we are concerned is whether or not the trial court was correct in awarding the defendant landowner damages for his tract of land lying south of the thirty (30) foot strip of land owned by United Gas.

The landowner avidly contends that the part taken and his remaining tract have [691]*691been used and utilized for more than thirty-years as one entire and unitized tract of land, irrespective of the intervening ownership of United Gas. In support of this position witnesses stated that gravel and sand had been spread over the entire area to the rear or south of the restaurant building located on the part taken, and this entire area, including the surface of the pipeline, had been used for parking purposes for restaurant customers and workers who had car pool arrangements. The evidence clearly shows that there had been no prevention or interruption of the use of the pipeline property surface. In addition the defendant landowner alludes to grants from United Gas to John E. Knox, dated June 18, 1941, and from United Gas to Mrs. Julia Daniel, dated July 24, 19S0. The first document granted to Mr. Knox individually a right of ingress and egress across the subject 30 foot ownership so that he could pass freely between the tracts owned by him in Lot 27, which embraced all of the property in question. The second document granted to Mrs. Daniel the right to construct and maintain roads across two (2) IS foot strips on the extreme east and west portions of the United Gas property. This latter act provided that this right would go to the grantee, her successors and assigns so long as “said two (2) 15' strips are used and maintained by the grantee, her successors and assigns.” These two instruments were both recorded on December 10, 1971 during the latter stages of the trial. The order of expropriation was signed on May IS, 1970.

On the other hand the plaintiff State strenuously maintains that the property expropriated is a complete taking and that the trial court was erroneous in awarding severance or consequential damages for a separate and independent tract of land from the one physically taken or invaded for public purposes. The plaintiff points to the accepted principle of law that no consequential damages are recoverable for a separate and independent tract of land, none of which is physically taken, unless the owner sustains special damages, which peculiarly affect his property only and are not experienced by the public or neighborhood generally. These claims are based upon the premise that the ownership of United Gas in the thirty (30') foot strip of land divided defendant’s property into two separate and distinct tracts of land, and that such damages as may have been sustained by the remaining portion of defendant’s tracts south or below the pipeline ownership were non-compensable in nature.

The trial judge resolved this issue in favor of the defendant landowner, and he stated in his reasons for judgment the basis for this determination, to-wit:

“Admittedly, the issue is novel; however, the court is of the opinion that severance damages are due. This is because: 1) the property historically was one common tract of ground, 2) the properties have been utilized together for a common use by one owner, and 3) there has been no abatement of ingress and egress by the owners over the right of way for thirty years. This holding is despite the Court’s opinion that the original grants accorded by United Gas were personal in nature and have long since expired as to effectiveness.”

We do not agree with the trial court’s determination that this taking was a partial one and merited an award of severance or consequential damages for the remainder of Mr. Cefalu’s property which was separated and divided from the part taken by the intervening 30 foot strip of land owned by United Gas Pipeline Corporation. Admittedly the property south of the tract taken, including the piece owned by United Gas, has been used as an area for the parking of vehicles for approximately thirty years, and there is no evidence that United Gas ever did attempt to impede or abate ingress and egress across its strip of property by defendant and his authors in title. However, none of the authorities cited by the defendant nor any cases revealed by our independent research [692]*692involve factual circumstances analogous to the facts here. Without exception the cited jurisprudence involves instances where property is in a limited sense intervened or interrupted by servitudes, and the owners of such tracts so interrupted have the unequivocal right to cross the servitudes. These authorities in our opinion do not warrant the extension of the unity or entirety of use concept to the degree proposed by the defendant.

The proposition of law, relating to whether or not the use of a remaining portion of land was so intertwined, conjoint and unitized previously with the part taken as to result in consequential damages to such remainder is generally stated in Am. Jur.2d, Vol. 27, Sec. 315 as follows:

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Related

State, Department of Highways v. Cefalu
288 So. 2d 332 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1974)
State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Cefalu
277 So. 2d 440 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
273 So. 2d 689, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 6627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-department-of-highways-v-cefalu-lactapp-1973.