Case Name: Wilbur J. CASEY and Kathryn W. Casey, his wife, Appellants, v. FLORIDA POWER CORPORATION, a corporation, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1963-09-13
Citations: 157 So. 2d 168
Docket Number: No. 3288
Parties: Wilbur J. CASEY and Kathryn W. Casey, his wife, Appellants, v. FLORIDA POWER CORPORATION, a corporation, Appellee.
Judges: STURGIS, WALLACE E., Associate Judge, concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 157
Pages: 168–176

Head Matter:
Wilbur J. CASEY and Kathryn W. Casey, his wife, Appellants, v. FLORIDA POWER CORPORATION, a corporation, Appellee.
No. 3288.
District Court of Appeal of Florida. Second District.
Sept. 13, 1963.
Rehearing Denied Nov. 14, 1963.
Ben Krentzman and Richard T. Bennison of Krentzman & MacKenzie, Clearwater, for appellants.
S.E. Simmons, St. Petersburg, for ap-pellee.

Opinion:
SHANNON, Judge.
The appellants were the respondents below and the appellee was the petitioner. The respondents were the owners of a 148 acre tract of land, and the petitioner sought to condemn an easement for a right-of-way, 262.5 feet wide, containing 14.5 acres, and running diagonally across the land, for the purpose of erecting four towers and a portion of a fifth, upon which to maintain a 230,000 volt transmission line. According to petitioner, at the trial below there were contrasting opinions of the experts as to the value that should be allowed, from a high of $121,000.00 to a low of $58,110.00. The verdict was $64,000.00, plus an attorney's fee of $6,500.00. The appraisers appointed by the court appraised the property at $70,380.00. The respondents in this appeal posed three points, namely:
1. May the respondents introduce evidence as to the effect of the presence of such towers and power lines upon the fair market value of their property after the taking?
The petitioner has narrowed the question so as to base the same upon the effect of fear and unsightliness of the wires and towers in establishing depreciation of adjacent property not condemned.
2. Whether or not the respondents are entitled to have the jury consider evidence as to all factors which would affect the fair market value of their property and would reasonably enter into the negotiations of prospective purchases ?
This is narrowed down by the petitioner to whether opinions as to values based in part upon immaterial or conjectural elements are proper for the consideration of the jury.
3. Should the jury be allowed to consider the testimony of respondents' expert witness concerning the characteristics of the transmission lines?
The petitioner asks whether or not it is error to reject the proffered testimony of an engineer relative to an alleged attribute of the line (blue corona) when it conclusively appears that the appraisal experts have not considered this element in any way in their opinions as to value.
The property is devoted to dairy and pasture purposes by the owners. The easement was obtained pursuant to the quick-taking procedure set out in Chapter 74, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., which chapter relates to the proceedings supplemental to Eminent Domain. We are solely concerned here with arriving at a just compensation insofar as this easement is concerned. The-cases are replete with language which suggests that just compensation for an interest of this kind is the difference between the market value of the entire property immediately before the taking and its market value burdened with the easement. But, say the respondents, the court below struck all of the testimony of one expert witness and a portion of that of another expert witness. The testimony of both witnesses would tend to show that the presence of towers and power lines upon the property would result in a general reluctance on the part of prospective purchasers to purchase the land adjacent to the easement. This reluctance would be caused by the general appearance of the towers and lines and the apprehension of hazard that the towers and power lines would present. The lower court ruled, according to respondents, that such consideration was not proper in arriving at a computation of damages, and refused the requested instructions embodying the same. In maintaining that the presence of towers and power lines does diminish the market value in the eyes of a prospective purchaser, the respondents quoted from Board of Commissioners of State Inst. v. Tallahassee Bank & Trust Company, Fla.App.1958, 100 So.2d 67. We do not think that this case is authority for their position, but they do cite a case from another jurisdiction, Hicks v. United States, 266 F.2d 515, (6th Cir.1959), where the court said:
" From a financial standpoint the estimates by appellant's witnesses for incidental injury to the property from the power lines and towers constituted the main item of damages. Four qualified witnesses testified for appellant that the 113 acres had been substantially reduced in value by the presence of four steel towers 84 feet high and twin power lines each carrying 154,000 volts. It was shown that the power lines had reduced the de sirability of the northern. 16-acre tract fronting- on Highway 100 close to Nashville and admitted by witnesses for TVA to be suitable for suburban residential purposes. Clearly the injury done to the property by the presence of power lines and steel towers is not merely speculative."
From reading the above quotation from the Hicks case one would think that the law on this question is settled. However, the petitioner's view on this question is expressed in its exhaustive brief:
"The controlling question is whether, under the particular circumstances presented by the record, the opinions of Casey's experts were based in part upon speculation and conjecture and hence improper for consideration by the jury. Frequently presented to and decided by courts in other jurisdictions, it is of first impression in Florida. "
And, says the petitioner, by the clear weight of authority, opinion evidence as to value in a condemnation case, based upon fear of a steel tower and high voltage transmission lines, is too speculative and conjectural to be considered as an element of damage to adjacent land. Petitioner cites Alabama Power Co. v. Keystone Lime Co., 1914, 191 Ala. 58, 67 So. 833, and numerous other cases. In the Alabama Power Co. case it is stated, in part:
" If it be true that some people who have not grown accustomed to lines similar to that of appellant are afraid of this improvement, and that therefore they are not now willing to buy appellee's lands, the law can furnish to appellee no remedy therefor, and cannot regard depreciation created by such a cause as resting upon any substantial basis. In allowing compensation, however, it cannot allow any compensation on account of any claimed depreciation of such remaining land which is due to the mere fears of some of the people, which are founded in reality upon their lack of knowledge of the real effect of the line, and which human experience shows is not justified by the facts. "
The petitioner, in its brief, has set this case out as representative of the majority rule. Next, it sets out the intermediate rule, under which the cases reject the notion that mere general fear from the presence of a transmission line can be made the basis upon which to claim depreciation in the market value of adjacent land, modifying the majority rule as follows :
" But if such fears be reasonable, not speculative nor ill-defined, but founded on practical experience, and if such fears are entertained so generally as to enter into the calculations of all who propose to buy or sell, can it logically be said that they do not depreciate the market value of the property? If an owner cannot sell his property at as good a figure with this line across it as he could before, then his land may be depreciated on account thereof. "
This view is represented by Dunlap v. Loup River Public Power Dist., 1939, 136 Neb. 11, 284 N.W. 742, 124 A.L.R. 400, and various other cases.
The petitioner then sets forth the minority rule, under which it has placed the opinion in Hicks v. United States, supra.
Insofar as the unsightliness of the steel towers, the petitioner again gives us the majority and minority rules, citing Nichols on Eminent Domain, 3d Ed., and a host of cases.
That a prospective purchaser of the land of the respondents will be so timid or so ignorant that he either will not buy at all or will offer less than the true value because of the transmission lines and towers is too highly speculative in regard to this particular land to be taken into consideration. This court, like the majority of other courts, recognizes the owners' right to full and just compensation; but when a jury must base its award upon ignorance and fear, we must draw the line; such a basis cannot possibly result in fair and just compensation. This court will go with what the petitioner calls the majority rule and hold that no error has been made to appear in the ruling of the trial court. For authority on this point see 49 A.L.R. 702; 124 A.L.R. 407; 5 Nichols on Eminent Domain, 3d Ed., Sec. 16.103(1); and Institute on Eminent Domain, Southwest Legal Foundation, 1960 Ed., pp. 104, 105.
Point No. 2, as stated by the petitioner, questions whether opinions as to value based in part upon immaterial and conjectural elements are proper for the consideration of the jury. The question as stated by respondents leaves the door wide open as to the various factors which would affect the fair market value of property.
Respondents, in arguing this particular question, put emphasis upon their role in the transaction as that of an- unwilling seller. The word "value" as used in the statute ordinarily means the amount which would be paid for the property on the assessing date to a willing seller, not compelled to sell, by a willing purchaser, not compelled to purchase, taking into consideration all uses to which the property is adapted and might reasonably be applied. See Root v. Wood, 1945, 155 Fla. 613, 21 So.2d 133; and City of Tampa v. Colgan, 1935, 121 Fla. 218, 163 So. 577. Therefore, in order to arrive at a fair value, it is necessary to have a willing buyer and a willing seller. In view of this, the courts have consistently warned against speculation and conjecture. See Board of Commissioners of State Inst. v. Tallahassee Bank & Trust Co., supra.
The record is quite clear as to what actually happened at the trial in this case. We quote from appellee's brief:
" Confronted with this claim, Petitioner on redirect and without objection by. Casey again sought Hunni-cutt's opinion as to the effect of a power line upon adjacent property. In retrospect, and since the element of fear had already been excluded from the jury's consideration, Hunnicutt's. reference thereto was perhaps technically irrelevant, however, Casey did not object or move to strike it, nor has he assigned the incident as error. The argument on this score sums up as follows:
"1. Casey opened the subject and is in no position to complain of the rebuttal. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Watkins, 97 Fla. 350, 121 So. 95.
"2. He did not object to any of Hunnicutt's testimony and thus laid no predicate upon which to assign error. Ross v. Florida Sun Life Insurance Company, Fla.App., 124 So.2d 892; Gainesville & Gulf R. Co. v. Peck, 55 Fla. 402, 46 So. 1019.
"3. The error, if any, is not the subject of any of Casey's assignments. Red Top Cab & Baggage Co. v. Dorner, 159 Fla. 538, 32 So.2d 321.
"4. The Court carefully enumerated the items remaining for the jury's consideration and since fear was not one of them, Hunnicutt's negative views on the subject could not possibly have influenced its deliberations.
"This Court will perhaps, in company with Petitioner, wonder why it was ever made. If Casey is correct on the first point, the argument is unnecessary and superfluous. If he is incorrect, error cannot be contrived from objections not made, assignments not presented or by some specious appeal to passion or prejudice."
While the parties have taken a good deal of space in their briefs to discuss this point, it is in a large part repetition of some of the language used in the discussion of the first point. The cases cited under Point No. 1 almost all discuss the point here involved. We do not think that the respondents can complain as to the ruling of the trial court for the reasons given under the previous question.
Under Point No. 3 the respondents posed the question as to whether or not the jury should be allowed to consider the testimony of respondents' expert witness concerning the characteristics of the transmission lines. The petitioner puts the question as to 'whether or not it is error to reject the •proffered testimony of an engineer relative lo an alleged attribute of the line (blue corona) when it conclusively appears that the appraisal experts have not considered this element in any way in their opinions as to value.
The trial court rejected the proffered testimony concerning the blue corona. The testimony does not show that the blue corona is dangerous or displeasing to the aesthetic senses. The real estate experts did not mention it or even enter into any calculations about the phenomena. The respondents, with the burden of demonstrating error, do not even attempt to supply the link which would connect the blue corona with land value — in other words, relevancy has not been shown. The respondents simply failed to connect the phenomena with the depreciation in land value, and irrespective of Petition of Omaha Public Power District, 1959, 168 Neb. 120, 95 N.W.2d 209, and Pavlis v. Atlas-Imperial Diesel Engine Co., 1935, 121 Fla. 185, 163 So. 515, we fail to find that the respondents have pointed out any error to us under the heading of this question.
Affirmed.
STURGIS, WALLACE E., Associate Judge, concurs.
ALLEN, Acting C. J., concurs specially.