State v. Dunn

888 N.E.2d 858, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1332, 2008 WL 2514461
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 25, 2008
Docket82A01-0705-CV-223
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 888 N.E.2d 858 (State v. Dunn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dunn, 888 N.E.2d 858, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1332, 2008 WL 2514461 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

OPINION

VAIDIK, Judge.

Case Summary

The State’s construction of a median strip that makes the route of travel to a business property more circuitous is not a compensable taking. We therefore reverse the trial court’s partial summary judgment in favor of business owner John M. Dunn against the State and the subsequent damages awarded to Dunn by a jury-

Facts and Procedural History1

Dunn entered the hotel business in 1978. Since that time, he has developed, owned, and operated more than twenty hotel properties. Appellant’s App. p. 114. One of these properties is located at 100 South Green River Road in Evansville, Indiana (“Subject Property”). Id.

In the late 1980s, the State decided to construct the Lloyd Expressway near the Subject Property. When the Lloyd Expressway was initially constructed, all entrances connecting the Subject Property to Green River Road were eliminated. Id. at 129. However, the State then initiated condemnation proceedings to acquire a nearby strip of land belonging to Dunn in order to build a service road connecting the western boundary of the Subject Property to Green River Road. Id. at 130. The State successfully acquired the land and constructed the service road, and Dunn received compensation for the taking. See State v. Dunn, 837 N.E.2d 206 (Ind.Ct.App.2005).2

Thereafter, the Subject Property had access, via the service road, to and from the northbound and southbound lanes of Green River Road. Appellant’s App. p. 130. This changed in July 2004, when the State, acting through the Indiana Department of Transportation, installed a concrete median in the center of Green River Road, id. at 116, 118, near that road’s interchange [860]*860with State Road 66, id. at 165. This median prevents southbound traffic from Green River Road from making left turns into the service road entrance to the Subject Property. Id. at 116, 131. The elimination of left-hand turns onto the service road “was designed as a safety measure,” as a southbound driver making such a turn would have to cross five lanes of oncoming northbound traffic. Id. at 166. The service road remains accessible to the public, although southbound drivers on Green River Road must follow a circuitous route to reach the service road and, hence, the Subject Property. The State undertook this project pursuant to its authority under Indiana Code § 8-23-8-1 to build and improve limited access facilities.3 Appellant’s App. p. 48.

After the State released its plan for the construction of the median but before its actual construction, Dunn, anticipating a loss in clientele because of the reduced convenience of the hotel’s entrance, began remodeling the hotel in November 2003 to increase its customer base. Id. at 117. While the hotel had apparently operated successfully from approximately 1978 until 2004, id. at 129, Dunn characterizes the hotel’s occupancy rates between November 2003 until the end of 2004 as “disappointing,” id. at 118.4

Dunn filed an inverse condemnation action against the State, alleging that the erection of the median “has completely eliminated all access to the Hotel and Subject Property from the southbound lane of Green River Road,” as it “prevents all left-hand turns from the southbound lanes of Green River Road into the Hotel’s vehicular entrance.” Id. at 32. Therefore, according to Dunn, the median “substantially and materially limited and impaired vehicular access to the Subject Property and vehicular egress from the Subject Property,” and this constitutes “a taking of [his] property without just compensation.” Id. at 33. He sought monetary compensation for the taking. The State answered and acknowledged that the median “prohibited] left hand turns to and from Green River Road and the public service road.” Id. at 46. However, the State contended that Dunn is not entitled to compensation as a matter of law because the erection of medians resulting in circuitous travel to a business is conducted according to the State’s police powers and does not effect a compensable taking. Id. at 48. Both parties subsequently filed motions for summary judgment, and the trial court granted Dunn’s motion for partial summary judgment, concluding that “a taking of Plaintiffs property rights by the Defendant, State of Indiana, has occurred.” Id. at 219. The suit thereafter proceeded to jury trial on the issue of damages. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Dunn in the amount of $3,650,000, and the trial court entered judgment accordingly. Id. at 27. Upon Dunn’s later motion, the trial court awarded him an additional $1,049,600 in prejudgment interest, $109 in costs, and $25,000 in attorneys’ fees. Id. at 29. The State now appeals.

[861]*861Discussion and Decision

Article I, § 21 of the Indiana Constitution provides that “[n]o person’s property shall be taken by law, without just compensation; nor, except in case of the State, without such compensation first assessed and tendered.” Indiana Code § 32-24-1-16 further provides that “[a] person having an interest in property that has been or may be required for a public use without the procedures of [the eminent domain] article or any prior law followed is entitled to have the person’s damages assessed” under Indiana’s statutory eminent domain procedure, found at Indiana Code chapter 32-24-1. Cases brought pursuant to Indiana Code § 32-24-1-16 are known as inverse condemnation actions. As we have observed in the past, condemnation proceedings are comprised of two stages: (1) an initial or summary phase, and (2) the phase during which the fact, finder determines damages. City of Hammond v. Marina Entm’t Complex, Inc., 733 N.E.2d 958, 966 (Ind.Ct.App.2000), trans. denied. “During the initial or summary phase of the proceedings, the action consists solely of legal issues which are decided by the trial court.” Id. “During the second stage of the condemnation proceedings the fact finder must determine the amount of damages sustained by the landowner.” Id.

The State raises four issues on appeal, pertaining to both the initial phase and the damages phase of the adjudication of Dunn’s inverse condemnation complaint. We find one issue dispositive: whether the trial court erred as a matter of law in granting partial summary judgment in favor of Dunn and against the State when the State built a median that forces traffic moving in certain directions to travel a more circuitous route to and from Dunn’s business property. We therefore will not reach the remaining issues.

“The standard of review of a summary judgment ruling is the same as that used in the trial court: summary judgment is appropriate only where the evidence shows there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Row v. Holt, 864 N.E.2d 1011, 1013 (Ind.2007) (quoting Gunkel v. Renovations, Inc., 822 N.E.2d 150, 152 (Ind.2005)). All inferences are to be drawn in favor of the non-moving party. Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
888 N.E.2d 858, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1332, 2008 WL 2514461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dunn-indctapp-2008.