Condemnation Proceedings
This week we wanted to bring your attention to a recent Appellate Court decision out of the 2nd Department that analyzed whether a landowner/Plaintiff, whose land was taken by the State of New York by way of a condemnation proceeding, had an “absolute” right of access for the purposes of ingress and egress over and through the condemned parcel. Based the specific facts of the case and the Order on appeal, the Court reasoned that the while the landowner/Plaintiff was entitled to a right of access to a public roadway, such right was not “absolute” and could be restricted in accordance with all codified laws.
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.
Land appropriated by New York State’s Department of Transportation (“DOT”) for the construction of a highway (that was never built) included parcels identified on Appropriation Maps as Parcels 723 and 734. Taken together, those two parcels formed a right of way to Bay Boulevard, a public street. In 2009 the Plaintiff acquired land abutting Parcel 734. The Plaintiff, having been informed by the DOT that it did not have the right to access Parcels 723 and 734 for access to Bay Boulevard, commenced a quiet title action. The Supreme Court, Queens County, granted the Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the Plaintiff had the “absolute” right of ingress and egress over and through Parcels 723 and 734. The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the lower court’s Order, as modified to delete the provision that the Plaintiff’s right of access was “absolute”. According to the Appellate Division,
“[t]he plaintiff established its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law…since the respective appropriation maps did not label Parcels 723 and 724 ‘without access’ [citations omitted]. [However,] [a]n abutting landowner’s right to access a State highway is compensable, but not absolute [citations omitted].”
Inwood Land Holdings, Inc. v. State of New York, 2023 NY Slip Op 02500, decided May 10, 2023, is posted at
https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2023/2023_02500.htm
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