Village of Roseville v. Thompson

567 N.E.2d 1334, 58 Ohio App. 3d 29, 1989 Ohio App. LEXIS 2395
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 15, 1989
DocketCA-376
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 567 N.E.2d 1334 (Village of Roseville v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Village of Roseville v. Thompson, 567 N.E.2d 1334, 58 Ohio App. 3d 29, 1989 Ohio App. LEXIS 2395 (Ohio Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

Milligan, J.

Appellant has failed to comply with Local App. R. 4. Nevertheless, in the interest of justice, we consider the cause on its merits.

Although appellant village of Rose-ville identifies this case as an appropriation proceeding “to acquire the necessary property for the construction of a sanitary sewer,” this was, in fact, an R.C. 719.01(J) appropriation *30 of 64.752 acres of land for a sewage plant and .11 acre for sewer line service. The acreage is located in both Muskingum and Perry Counties and the separate cases were consolidated and tried in Perry County.

The Perry County Court of Common Pleas entered judgment on a jury verdict fixing $39,000 for the value of the land taken and $31,000 for damages to the residue. This verdict was within the perimeters of evidence produced by expert appraisers.

The village of Roseville appeals, assigning two errors:

“I. The trial court’s decision to overrule the plaintiffs motion in limine by reason of the plaintiffs failure to comply with Rule 6(D) of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure is contrary to law.
“II. The trial court’s decision to overrule the plaintiff’s motion in limine and to allow the defendants] to introduce evidence as to alleged residual damage to defendant’s [sic] property which damages were not unique to the defendants] but which would be shared by all residents of the area in common is contrary to law.”

At pretrial, the appellant sought to limit the permissible scope of evidence admissible upon the issue of damages to the residue. Specifically, it sought to exclude any evidence of odor from the sewer plant as affecting the appellees’ property.

The motion in limine was filed on April 27,1988 and was heard following jury selection, opening statements, and jury view. The trial court overruled the motion, citing, inter alia, want of compliance with Civ. R. 6(D).

Hopkins, appellees’ appraiser, after being qualified and identifying his appraisal technique, testified that the value of the entire one-hundred sixty-seven acres was $139,192 and that the value of the properly to be taken, at $300 per acre, was $19,636.

He valued the residue at $119,556 prior to the take, and at $88,924 after the take. He explained that the residue was reduced by “environmental change,” and added that:

“The existence of a sewage facility in very close proximity to the property, I believe, reduces the value of that property. For instance, this home, which was highly marketable before, I feel, will be less marketable because of the occasional or quite frequent aroma that is not too pleasant.”

Hopkins also identified a part of the land that would be landlocked.

Another appraiser for appellees testified that damage to the residue as a result of odor from the sewage plant and possible water well contamination was $39,701.

In addition, one of the owners testified that the value of the real estate would be damaged by the odor from the sewage plant.

At no point did appellant object to either the questions asked or the answers tendered with respect to the impact of the sewage plant on the residue.

The appraiser for appellant testified that there would be no damage to the residue.

We consider the assignments of error in inverse order.

Assignment of Error No. II

Procedurally, a motion in limine has been created out of whole cloth. It receives no integrity from either the Rules of Civil Procedure, the Rules of Evidence, or statutory enactment. Here, it was used in an effort to get a “declaratory judgment” prior to the commencement of the testimony as to the admissibility of evidence that the odor from a sewer plant has a deleterious and compensable effect on the residue of the property to be taken.

We are disquieted by the use and reliance upon the motion in limine as a *31 vehicle to preliminarily determine the admissibility of evidence. As noted in Riverside Methodist Hosp. Assn. v. Guthrie (1982), 3 Ohio App. 3d 308, 310, 3 OBR 355, 357, 444 N.E. 2d 1358, 1361:

“* * * Properly, a motion in limine cannot be used to determine the admissibility of evidence. It can serve the same purpose as a motion to suppress evidence where the evidence either is not competent or is improper. This should be a rare use of the motion in limine.”

The Riverside court further noted, however, that the ruling on a motion in limine is “only a preliminary interlocutory order precluding [or allowing] questions being asked in a certain area until the court can determine from the total circumstances of the case whether the evidence would be admissible. * * *” Id. at 310, 3 OBR at 357-358, 444 N.E. 2d at 1361.

Appellant relies on the proposition that “damages must be peculiar to the subject property and not such as are suffered generally by other landowners in the area” to be compensable in an eminent domain proceeding, citing Knepper & Frye, Ohio Eminent Domain Practice (1977) 272, Section 9.07. See, also, 38 Ohio Jurisprudence 3d (1982) 262, Eminent Domain, Section 182.

Appellant claims two Ohio Supreme Court cases, New York, Chicago & St. Louis RR. Co. v. Bucsi (1934), 128 Ohio St. 134, 190 N.E. 562, 93 A.L.R. 632, and Richley v. Jones (1974), 38 Ohio St. 2d 64, 67 O.O. 2d 78, 310 N.E. 2d 236, support its position.

Richley was a highway appropriation case where U.S. Route 36 was to be converted from a two-lane to a four-lane highway with a median divider. The Director of Highways, by motion in limine, sought to prevent the owners from presenting any argument and evidence as to diminution in value as a result of the construction of the median divider. The trial court overruled the motion, and this court affirmed.

Justice (later, Chief Justice) Cele-brezze, speaking for the court, observed that changes in traffic flow occasioned by placing median strips are an exercise of the police power of the state and that: “Any damages that might result from the doing of a lawful act are noncompensable — damnum absque injuria. If we allow this damage to be introduced in evidence because there is a concurrent taking of land we are, in effect, allowing compensation for it. * * *” Richley, supra, at 66, 67 O.O. 2d at 79, 310 N.E. 2d at 238.

The Richley court further observed that the landowner is entitled to just compensation but is not entitled to special damages because he is compelled to part with title. Id. at 69, 67 O.O. 2d at 81, 310 N.E. 2d at 239-240. The court concluded, in this highway appropriation case:

“The holdings in the lower courts in this cause have the effect of giving the landowner special damages.

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Bluebook (online)
567 N.E.2d 1334, 58 Ohio App. 3d 29, 1989 Ohio App. LEXIS 2395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/village-of-roseville-v-thompson-ohioctapp-1989.