DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION, STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, PETITIONER,
v.
CAPITAL PLAZA, INC., RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1981-04-16
No. 58464
SUNDBERG, C. J., and BOYD, OVER-TON, ENGLAND and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur., ADKINS, J., dissents.
397 So. 2d 682 Florida Supreme Court (1981) Negative Treatment
Cited by 53 cases

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Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court held that property owners have no compensable interest in traffic flow and therefore cannot recover severance damages when road construction merely redirects traffic patterns rather than physically taking land or directly impairing access. The court quashed a district court decision that had allowed a jury to consider evidence of business damages from a median strip that prevented northbound traffic from accessing the property.


Holding

Landowners have no compensable property interest in traffic flow, and severance damages are only available when the complained-of impairment results directly from the physical taking of property, not from subsequent changes in traffic patterns or flow.


Headnotes

[1] A landowner has no property right in the continuation or maintenance of traffic flow past their property.

[2] Severance damages in eminent domain are not available for a change in traffic flow.

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Key Quotes

“'access' as a property interest does not presently include a right to traffic flow even though commercial property might very well suffer adverse economic effects as a result of a diminution in traffic”

Establishes the foundational principle that property owners lack a compensable interest in traffic flow despite potential economic harm

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Facts & Procedural History

The Department of Transportation acquired a strip of Capital Plaza's land through eminent domain to widen a road. The reconstructed road changed from …

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Opinion of the Court
McDONALD, Justice.

McDONALD, Justice.

We have for review a decision1 wherein a district court held that a jury should be allowed to consider evidence regarding substantial impairment of access due to the construction of a median strip when considering severance damages in relation to a condemnation. We have jurisdiction,2 and, for the reasons set out below, we quash the district court decision.

Through eminent domain proceedings, the Department of Transportation (DOT) acquired a strip of land owned by Capital Plaza, Inc. (Capital), to be used in widening a road. Following reconstruction, the road, formerly two lanes with no median, had six lanes divided by a raised four-foot-wide median. Due to the median, northbound drivers can no longer turn across traffic directly into Capital’s service station.

The trial court denied Capital’s request to introduce evidence of damages to the remainder of the property caused by decreased access. The district court reversed, holding that the jury should have been allowed to consider evidence relating to free access by northbound traffic. In reaching its decision, the court relied on State Department of Transportation v. Stubbs, 285 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1973). We find, however, that Stubbs, does not control the instant situation.

In Stubbs this Court stated that “[e]ase and facility of access constitute valuable property rights for which an owner is enti-tied to be adequately compensated.” 285 So. 2d at 3. Stubbs held that section 388.04, Florida Statutes (1971), requires jury consideration of severance damages where there is a direct physical taking of property for the construction of a limited access road. The instant case is distinguishable from Stubbs because the road involved here is not a limited access facility governed by section 338.04.

Instead, the instant case concerns alleged damages resulting from a change in the flow of traffic, not a deprivation of access. There is still free, unimpeded access to Capital’s service station albeit only by southbound traffic. Although the holding in Stubbs is not applicable here, that case does provide guidance. The Stubbs Court also said that “ ‘access’ as a property interest does not presently include a right to traffic flow even though commercial property might very well suffer adverse economic effects as a result of a diminution in traffic.” 285 So. 2d at 4. Thus, this state has joined the numerous other jurisdictions which have found that a landowner has no property right in the continuation or maintenance of traffic flow past his property. See Annot. 73 A.L.R.2d 689, § 4 (1960); 2A Nichols Eminent Domain § 6.445 (rev. 3d ed. 1979).

When less than the entire property is taken, compensation for damage to the remainder can be awarded only if such damage is caused by the taking.3 Here, DOT constructed the median within its previously owned right of way. Construction of the median, not the taking, caused the alleged damage. Severance damages are not available for a change in traffic flow.

We hold that landowners have no compensable interest in traffic flow and that, in order to receive severance damages, any complained-of impairment must result directly from a taking. The district court opinion is quashed with directions to affirm the trial court ruling.

It is so ordered.

SUNDBERG, C. J., and BOYD, OVER-TON, ENGLAND and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur. ADKINS, J., dissents.

. Capital Plaza, Inc. v. Division of Adm., State Dep’t. of Transp., 381 So. 2d 1090 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979).

. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla.Const. .§ 73.071(3)(b), Fla.Stat. (1979). Stubbs phrased the issue as “whether there has been a substantial diminution in access as a direct result of the taking.” 285 So. 2d at 3.


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Citator

Cited By (26 total)

  • Palm Beach Cnty. v. Tessler, 538 So. 2d 846 (Fla. 1989)
    …97 (Fla.1962). This would seem to follow once it is recognized, as Florida does, that the right of access is a property right which appertains to the ownership of land. We did not [*849] intend that Division of Administration v. Capital Plaza, Inc., 397 So. 2d 682 (Fla.1981), be read as limiting the rationale of Stubbs to takings under section 338.04. The Capital Plaza case involved a reduction in the flow of traffic. In the course of the widening of a road, a median was installed so that northbound drivers c…
  • Rubano v. Dep't OF Transp., 656 So. 2d 1264 (Fla. 1995)
    …hough commercial property might very well suffer adverse economic effects as a result of reduced traffic. Stubbs, 285 So. 2d at 4. The commercial impact of traffic changes was more recently addressed in Department of Transportation v. Capital Plaza, 397 So. 2d 682 (Fla.1981), in which a median, installed as part of a road widening project, channeled traffic away from and limited turns into a service station. The court ruled that there was no deprivation of access but rather a redirection of traffic, for which…
    1 / 2
  • Dep't OF Transp. v. L.I. Gefen, 636 So. 2d 1345 (Fla. 1994)
    …hough commercial property might very well suffer adverse economic effects as a result of reduced traffic. Stubbs, 285 So. 2d at 4. The commercial impact of traffic changes was more recently addressed in Department of Transportation v. Capital Plaza, 397 So. 2d 682 (Fla.1981), in which a median, installed as part of a road widening project, channelled traffic away from and limited turns into a service station. The court ruled that there was no deprivation of access but rather a redirection of traffic, for whic…

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