State v. Barbe
| Citation | 24 So.2d 372,209 La. 185 |
| Decision Date | 10 December 1945 |
| Docket Number | 37782.,37781 |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE v. BARBE (two cases). |
Rehearing Denied Jan. 7, 1946.
Appeal from Fourteenth Judicial District Court Parish of Calcasieu; Mark C. Pickrel, Judge.
Moss & Graham, of Lake Charles, and Arthur B. Hammond and Joseph A. Loret, both of Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellant.
Kaufman & Anderson and Thomas F. Porter, all of Lake Charles, for defendant-appellee Alfred M. Barbe.
Plauche & Stockwell, of Lake Charles, for defendant-appellee Paul J. Barbe.
In these consolidated suits, the plaintiff, the State of Louisiana through the Department of Highways, expropriated a right of way over 3.982 acres of land belonging to Alfred M. Barbe and over 4.316 acres of land owned by Paul J. Barbe all located in the Parish of Calcasieu for the purpose of broadening the Synthetic Rubber Plant Access Highway.
The suits were consolidated in the lower court for the purpose of trial and were heard before the same jury of freeholders, which was instructed to fix the value of the right of way on an acreage basis. The jury awarded the defendants $800 per acre for the right of way. The judgment of the lower court was to the same effect. The plaintiff has appealed.
The sole question presented on this appeal is the plaintiff's contention that the award of $800 per acre is excessive.
The plaintiff offered the testimony of an agent of the Department of Highways who appraised the right of way at $250 per acre, of two real estate men who fixed the value at $200 per acre exclusive of the timber growing thereon, and of another real estate man who set the value of the right of way with the timber thereon at $200 per acre.
Evidence was offered by the plaintiff showing that the property was carried on the assessment rolls at a value of approximately $3 per acre.
Upon cross-examination, two lay witnesses, who testified for the plaintiff on other points in the case, stated that the right of way was worth $1,000 per acre.
Judge Alfred M. Barbe, one of the defendants and a large landowner in the Parish of Calcasieu, fixed the value of the right of way over his 3.982 acres of land at $5,000 to $6,000. Paul J. Barbe the other defendant, assigned a similar amount for the right of way over his 4.016 acres of land.
The cashier of the Lake Charles Bank & Trust Company, who was in charge of all of its real estate transactions at the time of the trial, valued the right of way at $1,200 per acre.
The president of Erwin Heirs, Inc., a corporation owning lands in Calcasieu and other parishes, was of the opinion that the right of way was worth $1,500 per acre.
The vice president of the Union Sulphur Company, a large land owner in Calcasieu Parish, set the value of the right of way at $1,250.00 per acre.
A lease broker, who bought and sold property for other people in the parish, was of the opinion that the right of way was worth $1,200 per acre.
The jury of freeholders, after hearing the testimony and viewing the property, gave an award of $800 per acre for the right of way in each of these consolidated cases.
Counsel for the plaintiff takes the position that the principal elements to be considered in fixing the market value of real estate are the opinions of experts on real estate values, prices paid for property of a similar nature in the vicinity, and the assessed valuation. Counsel contends that the opinions of the real estate agents as to the value of the right of way should govern, and that the values placed by the defendants' witnesses are entitled to little weight for the reason that they are not real estate agents or experts as to real estate values.
For a decision in these consolidated cases, it would serve no useful purpose to discuss the prices paid for property of a similar nature in the vicinity for the reason that they throw no light on the subject. The sales of property in the vicinity range from a small amount to over $3,000 per acre.
The record discloses that the Cities Service Refining Corporation, which employed 1932 persons at the time of the trial, and the Firestone Rubber Company are located across the highway from the property herein sought to be expropriated. There are also three oil tank farms in the neighborhood. We find in the record testimony showing the land in question to be within one-eighth or one-fourth of a mile of navigable water. The record discloses that the defendants' property is the only available land in the immediate section for industrial or housing purposes. The employees of the corporations situated across the highway have to be transported to and from their work from various distances.
The assessed value of property may be considered as a factor in determining the true value of the right of way but it is not controlling. It is a matter of common knowledge that real property is not assessed in this State at its market value. The real or market value and not the assessed value controls. Louisiana Highway Comm. v. Guidry, 176 La. 389, 146 So. 1; City of New Orleans v. Larroux, 203 La. 990, 14 So.2d 812.
'* * * The market value is what a willing purchaser would pay a willing seller under...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Consolidated Sewerage Dist. of City of Kenner v. Schulin, 10824
... ... State v. National Advertising Co., 356 So.2d 557 (La.App.3rd, 1978); Wilkinson v. Wilkinson, 323 So.2d 120 (La.1975) ... While the ... Cass, 203 La. 997, 14 So.2d 814 (1943); City of New Orleans v. Cerevallo, 203 La. 998, 14 So.2d 814 (1943); State v. Barbe, 209 La. 185, 24 So.2d 372 (1945), as well as other cases, too numerous to mention. Thus, we conclude that the trial judge was not erroneous in his ... ...
-
Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission v. Watson
... ... The plaintiff is an Executive Department of the State of Louisiana created by Section 29 of Article 6 of the Constitution of Louisiana, as amended. The right to expropriate was given to the Commission ... Barbe, 1946, 209 La. 185, 24 So.2d 372 ... '(5) State v. Landry, 219 La. 456, 53 So.2d 232: ... "Courts will take ... ...
-
Evangeline Parish Police Jury v. Deville
... ... Deville, under its inherent rights of eminent domain. It, together with other state subdivisions, had entered into an agreement with the Federal Government for the purpose of developing a project known as the Upper Bayou Nezpique ... Parish of Iberia v. Cook, 238 La. 697, 116 So.2d 491 (1959); Texas Pipeline Company v. Barbe, 229 La. 191, 85 So.2d 260 (1956); Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission v. Watson, et al., supra. However, when the reasonableness of the amount of ... ...
-
State Through Dept. of Highways v. Ebrecht
... ... State Through Department of Highways v. Barber, 238 La. 587, 115 So.2d 864; State v. Barbe, 209 La. 185, 24 So.2d 372; Town of Slaughter v. Appelby, 235 La. 324, 103 So.2d 461 ... Severance damages, that is, damages to an owner's remaining property are recoverable only to the extent of the diminution in value of the land remaining after the taking. Such damages cannot ... ...