Opinion ID: 2105836
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Decline in Fair Market Value

Text: Although the Texas Constitution forbids the taking of private property without adequate compensation, it does not require compensation for every decrease in market value attributed to a governmental activity. Felts v. Harris County, 915 S.W.2d 482, 484 (Tex.1996); see also Penn Cent. Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104, 131, 98 S.Ct. 2646, 57 L.Ed.2d 631 (1978) (holding that diminution in fair market value, alone, does not establish a taking). We are aware of no court that has held that a decline in land's fair market value, by itself, establishes that a taking by aircraft overflights has occurred. Some courts have considered fair-market-value decline as a factor in determining whether the government has interfered with the property's use and enjoyment. See, e.g., Brown, 73 F.3d at 1105 (holding that a significant and immediate decline in market price that is directly attributable to overflights strongly suggests such interference); Branning v. United States, 228 Ct.Cl. 240, 654 F.2d 88, 102 (1981) (concluding that noise created by overflights `practical[ly] destr[oyed]' the property and decreased its market value, which resulted in a taking (quoting Aaron v. United States, 160 Ct.Cl. 295, 311 F.2d 798, 801 (1963))); Long v. City of Charlotte, 306 N.C. 187, 293 S.E.2d 101, 110 (1982) (stating that no taking occurs unless the overflights amount to a `material interference with the use and enjoyment of property such that there is substantial diminution in fair market value' (quoting Cochran v. City of Charlotte, 53 N.C.App. 390, 281 S.E.2d 179, 186 (1981))); Thornburg v. Port of Portland, 244 Or. 69, 415 P.2d 750, 751-52 (1966) (measuring substantial interference by the property's fair-market-value decline). But the market-decline factor has been carefully limited to situations in which the decline was directly attributable to overflights and their direct effects on the property's surface. Brown, 73 F.3d at 1104-05; see also Persyn v. United States, 34 Fed. Cl. 187, 207 (Fed.Cl.1995) (observing that a significant decrease in the property's market value `as a direct result of the overflights' is a prerequisite for recovery (quoting Boardman v. United States, 180 Ct.Cl. 264, 376 F.2d 895, 899 (1967))); Branning, 654 F.2d at 102 (holding that noise associated with military overflights destroyed the value of property for residential use); Hoyle v. City of Charlotte, 276 N.C. 292, 172 S.E.2d 1, 10-11 (1970) (relying on the physical effects of overflights, including noise, to conclude that overflights have affected the property's market value). In this case, on the other hand, the record does not show that overflight-related effects directly impacted the property's surface and caused the property's value to decline. TCLC does not even allege that overflight effects, such as noise, fumes, or fuel sprays impacted the use and enjoyment of its property as a landfill. Nor did TCLC's appraisal expert consider the civilian overflights' effects on the property's use and enjoyment in calculating the property's fair market value after the alleged taking. Because TCLC failed to show that civilian overflight effects caused or contributed to the land's market-value decline, that decline, alone, does not establish a constitutional taking.