Opinion ID: 2182288
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The length of time between commencement of the project and condemnation of the property.

Text: The length of time between the commitment to the project and the condemnation was 27 years. The length of time between the commitment and the possibility of a rapid transit system was at least 11 years. [6] While time does not, in and of itself, decide the scope question, 320 Acres of Land, 605 F.2d at 792, it is a factor to be considered. In this instance it is an important factor because of the protracted period of time involved. Here there was sufficient time for the market value of the property to increase because of the state's announcement that the Northwest Expressway would be built, and the proximity of this land to that road. In cases where the time lapse has been much shorter landowners have been permitted to recover compensation for this increased value. [T]he longer the Government waits to condemn property ..., the more it tends to abandon that property as benefitted by [the original project] to the private market. 320 Acres of Land, 605 F.2d at 793; see also Eastman, 528 F. Supp. at 1183.