Com., Dept. of Highways v. Taylor County Bank
| Decision Date | 01 October 1965 |
| Citation | 394 S.W.2d 581 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS, Appellant, v. TAYLOR COUNTY BANK, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
Robert F. Matthews, Atty. Gen., Wm. A. Lamkin, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Frankfort, Tildon McMasters, Harold K. Huddleston, Elizabethtown, for appellant.
Clyde Williams, Jr., Campbellsville, for appellee.
In this condemnation proceeding instituted in Taylor Circuit Court by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Department of Highways, against the Taylor County Bank, the jury awarded the landowner $2250 for a temporary easement and $19,500 for the land taken. The Department appeals.
The property affected is located between First and Second Streets in the City of Campbellsville, and a portion thereof was condemned for additional right of way for the purpose of widening Second Street. Appellee's original parcel of land had a frontage of 132 feet on both streets and a uniform depth of 165 feet, and a newly erected drive-in bank was situated in the center of the lot. This building faces First Street which carries one-way traffic in a westerly direction toward town. Prior to the reconstruction work done on it, Second Street was one way in the opposite direction, and was without curb, gutter or sidewalks, and was in a poor state of repair.
The first ground for reversal is that the jury allowance of $2250 for the rental value of the easement was unsupported by competent, relevant and substantial evidence, with the result that the amount granted was grossly excessive.
The record reveals a temporary construction easement fifteen feet in depth was secured across the entire frontage of the property on Second Street; and that the duration of the use of this easement was for a period of six or seven months. Appellant's witnesses, two in number, placed a rental value of $400 and $500 on the easement. Appellee's appraisal witnesses, only two of whom testified on this point, estimated the rent for the fifteen-foot strip st $6500 and $4000.
The higher figure was testified to by the president of the bank and the lower by a commissioner of the Taylor county court. Both sought to show a loss of business was occasioned to the bank from the utilization of the temporary easement by appellant. These witnesses stated that customers, in order to reach the bank, were compelled to travel over to and thence on First Street; and, in leaving the premises, they had to circle the building or turn around on the same side they had entered in order to get back on the same street. A timely motion to strike this testimony was overruled.
This Court has uniformly held that the rental value of the land involved, not the business loss estimated to have occurred during the time the new road was under construction, is the proper measure of damages for the use of a temporary easement. See Commonwealth Department of Highways v. Fister, Ky., 373 S.W.2d 720. Actually, no loss of...
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