32 A.D.2d 708 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1969
Cross appeals from a judgment in favor of claimant, entered February 2, 1968, upon a decision of the Court of Claims for the appropriation of claimant’s lands in Saratoga County. Claimant was awarded $19,062 plus interest for the taking of 1.688 acres of land for highway purposes. Claimant’s property, consisting of an unworked farm and residence, was divided into four parts by Route 146, running north and south, the Alplaus-Riverview Road, running east and west, and Main Street, which ran diagonally from Route 146 south toward Rexford. The State took strips of land along each side of Route 146, plus a permanent easement for drainage. In the course of the subsequent improvement of Route 146, the Main Street section was closed and rerouted to a right-angle intersection with the State highway. The entire property was zoned Agricultural-Residential A, requiring a minimum lot size of 30,000 square feet. The parties concede, and the trial court found, that the highest and best use before the taking was for residential building lots. The claimant’s expert testified to a before value of $120,000, an after value of $86,800, leaving total damages of $33,200, consisting of $13,600 direct damages and $19,600 consequential damage. The State’s expert testified to a before value of $92,100, an after value of $84,750, leaving total damages of $7,350—$6,750 direct and $600 consequential damage. The court found a before value of $103,822, an after value of $85,266, with