523 A.2d 755 | Pa. | 1987
OPINION
Appellee, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation (PennDOT), filed a declaration of taking on March 23, 1977 regarding property owned by appellant, Pittsburgh North, Inc. PennDOT sought the
The trial court determined that pursuant to section 611 of the Eminent Domain Code
Section 611 of the Eminent Domain Code reads as follows:
§ 1-611. Delay compensation
The condemnee shall not be entitled to compensation for delay in payment during the period he remains in possession after the condemnation, nor during such period shall a condemnor be entitled to rent or other charges for use and occupancy of the condemned property by the condemnee. Compensation for delay in payment shall, however, be paid at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date of relinquishment of possession of the condemned property by the condemnee, or if the condemnation is such that possession is not required to effectuate it, then delay compensation shall be paid from the date of condemnation: Provided, however, that no compensation for delay shall be payable with respect to funds paid on account, or by deposition in court, after the date of such payment or deposition. Compensation for delay shall not be included by the viewers or the court or jury on appeal as part of the award of verdict, but shall at the time of payment of the award of judgment be calculated as above and added thereto. There shall be no further or additional payment of interest on the award or verdict.
26 Pa.C.S. § 1-611 (Emphasis supplied).
In the companion case of Hughes v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, 514 Pa. 300, 523 A.2d 747 (1987), we were called upon to construe this section. Considering issues very similar to those here
In Hughes, supra, the landowners (condemnees) were farmers who claimed that PennDOT’s condemnation of their property effectively prevented them from reaping the agricultural benefits of the land, even prior to PennDOT’s taking physical possession. This was due to the fact that PennDOT refused to guarantee that it would not enter the land prior to harvest, thereby forcing the condemnees to refrain from planting any crops on the condemned parcels. The facts in the case at bar are easily distinguishable from those in Hughes, supra. Pittsburgh North states that PennDOT’s action of condemnation prevented its contemplated development of the vacant land. It is clear that PennDOT’s actions did not interfere with Pittsburgh North’s full and normal use of the property “as established by the use to which [the] property was devoted prior to the declaration [of taking].” Hughes, supra, at 309, 523 A.2d at 752.
Since we have determined that Pittsburgh North is not entitled to any delay compensation, the complaint regarding the fixed rate of interest established by section 611 with respect to the delay compensation is rendered moot.
The Order of the Commonwealth Court is affirmed.
. Act of June 22, 1964, Sp.Sess., P.L. 84, Art. I, § 101, 26 Pa.C.S. § 1-101 et seq.
. In Hughes v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, 514 Pa. 300, 523 A.2d 747 (1987), three members of the present majority dissented from the Court’s resolution of this interest issue.