Cockrell v. Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, No. 2:95CV16-B-B (N.D. Miss. 9/__/1996)
| Decision Date | 01 September 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:95CV16-B-B.,2:95CV16-B-B. |
| Parties | WILLIAM J. COCKRELL, BILLY H. COCKRELL, and CAROLYN V. COCKRELL, Plaintiffs, v. MEMPHIS-SHELBY COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY, PRESIDENT LARRY COX, BOARD MEMBERS, ET AL., CITY OF SOUTHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI, MAYOR JOE CATES, BOARD OF ALDERMAN, ET AL., DESOTO COUNTY SPECIAL COURT OF EMINENT DOMAIN, MISSISSIPPI, ET AL., JOE WEBSTER, ET AL., D.B. BRIDGEFORTH, ET AL., TAYLOR BUNTIN, ET AL., JUDY KITCHENS, ET AL. Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Mississippi |
This cause comes before the court upon the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority's motion to dismiss. The court has duly considered the parties' memoranda and exhibits and is ready to rule.
The plaintiffs reside in DeSoto County, Mississippi, just south of the Memphis airport. For years, they have complained of the noise generated from low-flying airplanes. Their complaints have been the subject of at least one previous lawsuit.
In 1986, the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority developed a noise compatibility program to purchase additional real estate which was adjacent to the airport and which was subjected to excessive amounts of noise. Approximately 59 acres of this "buy-out area" was located in DeSoto County, Mississippi. The Airport Authority eventually purchased all but three residences in the Mississippi portion of the buy-out area. The plaintiffs were one of three homeowners who refused to sell their home.
In 1994, the Airport Authority donated the property to the City of Southaven, Mississippi, for use as a public park. In conjunction therewith, the City of Southaven instituted condemnation proceedings against the three remaining parcels of property through its power of eminent domain. On March 2, 1995, the Special Court of Eminent Domain awarded the plaintiffs $66,000.00 as just compensation for the taking of their property.
One month prior to the verdict of the Special Court of Eminent Domain, the plaintiffs filed this action, asserting various claims against assorted defendants. Through several previous orders, this court has dismissed all of the plaintiffs' claims except for the plaintiffs' Fifth Amendment claim against the Airport Authority for taking their property without just compensation. The defendant Airport Authority has now moved for dismissal of the plaintiffs' Fifth Amendment takings claim on the grounds that said claim is not ripe for adjudication. For the reasons stated below, the court concurs.
The plaintiffs' takings claim arises not from the City of Southaven's condemnation of their property, but rather from the loss of peaceful use and enjoyment of their property resulting from the noise of the low-flying aircraft. The United States Supreme Court has held that noise from low-flying aircraft can constitute a taking for which just compensation is required, if the flights are so low and so frequent as to be a direct and immediate interference with the enjoyment and the use of the land. See Griggs v. Allegheny County, 369 U.S. 84, 7 L. Ed. 2d 585 (1962); United States v. Causby, 328 U.S. 256, 90 L. Ed. 1206 (1946).
However, a Fifth Amendment takings claim is not ripe until the owner of the property has pursued state law judicial remedies and been denied just compensation. Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank, 473 U.S. 172, 87 L. Ed. 2d 126 (1985); Samaad v. City of Dallas, 940 F.2d 925 (5th Cir. 1991). Since the Fifth Amendment proscribes takings without just compensation, no constitutional violation occurs until compensation has been denied. Id. It is the denial of compensation, not the...
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