State v. Gannons Inc.

145 N.W.2d 321, 275 Minn. 14, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 723
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 19, 1966
DocketNos. 39,867, 39,950
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 145 N.W.2d 321 (State v. Gannons Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gannons Inc., 145 N.W.2d 321, 275 Minn. 14, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 723 (Mich. 1966).

Opinion

Nelson, Justice.

These are two consolidated appeals, one from an order of the trial court denying a motion for a new trial and one from the judgment subsequently entered.

The State of Minnesota petitioned for the condemnation of certain lands for trunk highway purposes and is the appellant; Gannons Inc. was respondent below and on appeal.

Gannons owns and operates a restaurant and cocktail lounge in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Prior to January 1961, it had 215 feet of frontage on what was then West Seventh Boulevard, an undivided thoroughfare with a traveled surface of 85 feet and a total width of approximately 200 feet. The boulevards on either side of the traveled portion of the roadway were ornamented with grass and trees. South of Gannons, West Seventh Boulevard entered directly onto the Seventh Street Bridge. The Mississippi River Boulevard intersected West Seventh Boulevard south of the Gannon premises at the entrance to the Seventh Street Bridge, and north of Gannons West Seventh Boulevard entered into both Edgcumbe Road and West Seventh Street.

As a result of highway construction, completed November 15, 1962, the main traveled lanes of the roadway adjacent to Gannons were divided to provide for one-way traffic in northerly and southerly directions, and the alignment of the new thoroughfare shifted to the west. No significant change of grade occurred adjacent to the restaurant, where a portion of old West Seventh Boulevard was converted into a service drive for the use of abutting properties. Gannons’ immediate access to the main traveled lanes was confined to ramp roads via the frontage road connecting with the northbound lane at a point 750 feet [17]*17north of the restaurant. Access from the northbound lane to Gannons was made available by a ramp joining the frontage road adjacent to Gannons at a point 250 feet south of the south entrance to Gannons’ parking lot, and by a ramp entering the frontage road at a point 190 feet north of the north entrance to Gannons’ parking lot.

Access from Gannons to the southbound lane and from the southbound lane to Gannons was rendered circuitous and is available either at a half-cloverleaf interchange 400 feet south of the restaurant or at a point 750 feet north of the property.

Upon learning of the plans for highway construction, Gannons petitioned to compel the state to commence a condemnation proceeding. On March 22, 1961, the district court of Ramsey County granted the petition, and action was commenced and commissioners appointed in October 1961 to determine damages, if any, resulting from the state’s construction program. The commissioners filed their report on July 3, 1962, to the effect that no damages had resulted. Gannons appealed to the district court from this decision and the case was brought on for trial by a jury which awarded damages.

During the trial in district court Eugene B. McDonough, the president of Gannons and a registered professional surveyor, testified that due to the construction of the interchange the damages to Gannons’ properties amounted to $101,000. He alleged a change in the highest and best use of the property from restaurant to industrial as a result of the change in access. On cross-examination it was revealed that Gannons had completely redecorated and refurnished the restaurant interior and repainted the exterior after the highway construction was completed. It was also revealed that an extensive advertising campaign was conducted at that time. The most important factor brought out under cross-examination was that its restaurant business had increased since the state’s highway construction improvement and that more patronage than ever before had reached the property.

Edward Lorens, a right-of-way engineer for the State Highway Department, testified in behalf of the state that in his opinion Gannons had reasonably suitable and convenient access, in spite of the fact that the restaurant cannot be seen by the traveling public going in an east[18]*18erly direction across the new Mississippi River bridge, until after the turnoff, and by those traveling in a westerly direction until they are past their turnoff. He compared Gannons to similar properties which had prospered after highway construction of a comparable nature to that completed adjacent to Gannons.

The State Highway Department also called one of the commissioners who testified that the reason for their denial of an award was that the access was suitable to Gannons and consequently its properties had nbt been damaged by the highway construction.

One construction feature more than any other that changed the nature of the access to Gannons’ restaurant was the division of the main traveled lanes by a median strip, which prevented traffic crossing from the north to the southbound lanes. According to Mr. McDonough, the most important factor contributing to the suitability and desirability of the Gannons’ access prior to the reconstruction was the fact that access to West Seventh Boulevard was tantamount to access to and from Minneapolis, the Mississippi River Boulevard, Edgcumbe Road, West Seventh Street, and downtown St. Paul, because at that time West Seventh Boulevard was not separated or divided by a median in front of Gannons.

The general rule is that any evidence which legitimately bears upon the market value, either before or after the taking, including damage inflicted upon the part remaining, should be received. State, by Lord, v. North Star Concrete Co. 265 Minn. 483, 122 N. W. (2d) 118. Where property is taken for public use in condemnation proceedings, any evidence is competent and any fact may properly be considered which legitimately bears on the market value of the property. State, by Lord, v. Malecker, 265 Minn. 1, 120 N. W. (2d) 36; Regents of University of Minnesota v. Irwin, 239 Minn. 42, 57 N. W. (2d) 625; State, by Lord, v. Red Wing Laundry & Dry Cleaning Co. 253 Minn. 570, 93 N. W. (2d) 206.1 The landowner cannot claim inconsistent uses for land which was taken by condemnation nor can he show his particular plans and intentions; however, he may show any uses, pres[19]*19ent or future, which are sufficiently practicable and probable and will be likely to influence the price which a present purchaser would give for the land. State, by Lord, v. Casey, 263 Minn. 47, 115 N. W. (2d) 749; State, by Lord, v. Malecker, supra.

The record indicates that a value witness, Mr. Winfield A. Mitchell, as well as Mr. McDonough, based his appraisal of damages upon anticipated losses immediately before and after the highway construction was commenced. As the record stands there are admissions and testimony on the part of Gannons which might be taken to indicate that the best use of the condemned property for restaurant purposes has not changed because of the highway construction and diversion of traffic, and that its business has since increased and prospered. For that reason the state contends that a jury verdict of $45,000 presumed to be based upon a reduction of access only was in part based upon unreliable and unsound testimony plus assumptions made prior to completion of the highway construction. This court held in the recent case of Sanchez v. Waldrup, 271 Minn. 419, 136 N. W. (2d) 61, that where the foundation for an opinion of an expert is unreliable, the opinion likewise is unsound, and a verdict based on it cannot stand. See, also, 14 Dunnell, Dig. (3 ed.) §§ 7142 and 7160.

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State v. Gannons Inc.
145 N.W.2d 321 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1966)

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Bluebook (online)
145 N.W.2d 321, 275 Minn. 14, 1966 Minn. LEXIS 723, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gannons-inc-minn-1966.