City of Brookings v. Mills
| Decision Date | 18 November 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 13761,13761 |
| Citation | 337 N.W.2d 181 |
| Parties | CITY OF BROOKINGS, A Municipal Corporation, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Harvey E. MILLS and Mary Lou Mills, Defendants and Appellants. . Considered on Briefs |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
George S. Mickelson of McCann, Martin & Mickelson, P.C., Brookings, for defendants and appellants; Cathy Mattson of McCann, Martin & Mickelson, P.C., Brookings, on brief.
Alan F. Glover, Brookings City Atty. of Denholm & Glover Law Firm, Brookings, for plaintiff and appellee.
In this condemnation action the landowners, Harvey and Mary Mills, appeal from a judgment awarding them $95,375.00 for the taking of 10.9 acres. We affirm.
The condemned land is undeveloped and is located adjacent to the city airport in the city of Brookings. The use for which the land was zoned would have allowed retail lumber yards, retail sales offices, construction component plants, parking, and other comparable uses. A previously established aircraft avigation easement encumbered 2.37 acres in the northeast corner of the property and imposed certain height restrictions.
An appraiser for the landowners testified that the property had a value of $10,500.00 per acre. The jury's verdict reflects a value of $8,750.00 per acre. The city's appraiser valued the property at $7,500.00 per acre. Landowners placed a value of $11,000.00 per acre on the property.
At trial the city made a motion in limine to prevent landowners from introducing any evidence of specific plans they had developed for the property prior to its condemnation. These plans included a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and a preliminary plat. The plans for construction included a parking lot in the area encumbered by the avigation easement and several buildings compatible with the use for which the property was zoned. The trial court ruled that landowners could not show the specific plans but that they could show the highest and best use of the property or any compatible use.
Landowners contend that they should have been permitted to introduce their plans, plats, and permits into evidence to illustrate the adaptability of the property for a particular use and to thus establish the fair market value of the land. They rely on the general principle that trial courts have great latitude in receiving evidence of the value or capabilities of property in condemnation cases. Basin Elec. Power Coop., Inc. v. Cutler, 254 N.W.2d 143 ...
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City of Brookings v. Mills
...per acre) for his property, from which he appealed. This court affirmed the jury verdict in a per curiam opinion. See City of Brookings v. Mills, 337 N.W.2d 181 (S.D.1983). The judgment has been Thereafter, the parties proceeded to litigate the counterclaim in a court trial on March 28, 198......
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