Government of Virgin Islands v. 50.05 ACRES OF LAND, ETC.

• Decision Date: 11 August 1960
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 45-1959.
• Citation: Government of Virgin Islands v. 50.05 ACRES OF LAND, ETC., 185 F.Supp. 495 (D. V.I. 1960)
• Parties: GOVERNMENT OF the VIRGIN ISLANDS, Plaintiff, v. 50.05 ACRES OF LAND, SALT RIVER, ST. CROIX, VIRGIN ISLANDS, Frederick Oman, John T. Burr, Robert B. George, Elizabeth Starr George, Edward J. Lanigan and Lillian A. Lanigan, and Unknown Owners.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Virgin Islands

185 F. Supp. 495

GOVERNMENT OF the VIRGIN ISLANDS, Plaintiff, v. 50.05 ACRES OF LAND, SALT RIVER, ST. CROIX, VIRGIN ISLANDS, Frederick Oman, John T. Burr, Robert B. George, Elizabeth Starr George, Edward J. Lanigan and Lillian A. Lanigan, and Unknown Owners.

Civ. No. 45-1959.

District Court, Virgin Islands, D. St. Croix, Christiansted Jurisdiction.

August 11, 1960.

Leon P. Miller, U. S. Atty., Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, V. I., for plaintiff.

James A. Bough, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, V. I., for defendant Oman.

Young & Isherwood, Christiansted, St. Croix, V. I., for defendant Burr.

Bailey & Wood, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, V. I. (William W. Bailey, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, V. I., of counsel), for defendants Robert and Elizabeth George.

HASTIE, Circuit Judge.

In this condemnation case defendants Frederick Oman and John T. Burr, owners of record of the tract in suit, and Robert B. George and Elizabeth Starr George, who claim an interest as mortgagees, have denied the right of plaintiff, Government of the Virgin Islands, to acquire by eminent domain a certain 50.05-acre tract of land at Salt River, St. Croix, to "be developed and maintained by the Government of the Virgin Islands as an historical and public recreational area". Accordingly, at this preliminary stage of the case the defendants are seeking dismissal of the action on the ground that it is an effort to accomplish an illegal taking, while the government is seeking an interlocutory order establishing its right to take the parcel, thus clearing the way for a second stage of litigation in which the fair value of the land will be determined in manner prescribed by law.

The defendants have offered evidence and presented arguments of law in an effort to show that the proposed taking is not necessary, is not for a proper public purpose and, in any event, embraces a larger tract than needed for any legitimate public use. The court's findings on the basis of the evidence thus admitted will appear in the course of this opinion.

In Chapter 19 of Title 28 of the Virgin Islands Code there has been enacted a statutory scheme for the condemnation of land by the local government for public uses. In addition, the legislature has specially and specifically authorized the present condemnation in Act No. 350, 2d Legislature, approved July 7, 1958. Sess.Laws of 1958, 130. In this statute it is "declared that the acquisition and development of the * * * precise area claimed in this suit is in the public interest of the Virgin Islands and is an authorized public use". It is further provided that "the said area upon acquisition shall be developed and maintained by the Government of the Virgin Islands as an historical and public recreational area, including the provision of public swimming and beach use facilities on the northern and southern sides of the peninsula, and facilities for fishing". The statute expressly authorizes the acquisition of the tract by eminent domain.

Since all parties concede that the providing of public parks and recreational areas is an appropriate function of government, plaintiff strenuously insists that Act No. 350 conclusively establishes both that the taking is for a proper public purpose and that land at the place and in the amounts specified by the Legislature is needed for that purpose. For the purposes of this case it is not necessary to go that far. For certainly the legislative enactment establishes prima facie, and unless and until a clear and very strong showing is made to the contrary, that the taking, as thus authorized, in its entirety will be the taking of a tract needed for a proper public purpose. That conclusion at least is required by the decision of this court in Virgin Islands Housing and Urban Renewal Authority v. 19.0976 Acres of Land, 1958, 3 V.I. 384. That case makes it the law of this jurisdiction that the determination of what and how much property is needed for a stated public use is primarily a matter of legislative discretion whether that discretion is exercised through an administrative agency as in that case, or directly by the Legislature as here. Only if it appears affirmatively that such a legislative determination has been made arbitrarily, without attendant circumstances which might persuade reasonable men so to act, can judicial interdiction be justified.

The evidence in this case falls far short of such conclusive proof of...