105 N.C. App. 713 | N.C. Ct. App. | 1992
G.S. 40A-3 provides in pertinent part:
(b) Local Public Condemnors. — For the public use or benefit, the governing body of each municipality or county shall possess the power of eminent domain and may acquire by purchase, gift or condemnation any property, either inside or outside its boundaries, for the following purposes.
(1) Opening, widening, extending, or improving roads, streets, alleys, and sidewalks. The authority contained in this subsection is in addition to the authority to acquire rights-of-way for streets, sidewalks and highways under Article 9 of Chapter 136.
The City Council thereby acted pursuant to its authority when adopting resolutions authorizing condemnation to acquire certain property in order to extend an existing street.
In City of Charlotte v. McNeely, 281 N.C. 684, 690, 190 S.E.2d 179, 184 (1972), our Supreme Court stated:
The taking of property to construct or enlarge a public street is, as a matter of law, a taking for a public purpose. The public purpose being established, “the question as to the necessity or expediency of devoting the property to the public use is one which must be left to the legislative department.” . . . Thus, the advisability of widening a public street is a matter within the discretion of a city’s governing body. (Citation omitted).
The City Council’s decision that it was necessary and in the public interest to condemn this particular property for the public purpose of extending an existing street was therefore within its discretion.
Insofar as the City Council acted within its scope of authority on a subject matter afforded legislative discretion the burden shifted
Reversed.