Opinion ID: 1181276
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Whether the State Highway Department is Equitably Estopped

Text: In their final point, plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in ruling that the State Highway Department is not equitably estopped from claiming that certain of plaintiffs' signs may be taken by it without just compensation. Defendant counters that the Department is not estopped from ordering the removal of these signs. The nine signs at issue were erected prior to the effective date of the Act. The signs became subject to a State Highway Department right-of-way acquisition in 1967; however, the signs were not condemned by the Department. On November 2, 1967, the Department granted plaintiffs McClure permission to relocate the signs without affecting the owner's right to compensation in the event that the signs were subsequently acquired by the Commission. The Department indicated to the sign owner before the erection of the signs at the new locations that they would be considered on-premise signs for the present. At trial defendant argued that the signs were not relocated, but were instead newly erected signs, thus allowing the signs to be removed without compensation since their placement occurred after the effective date of the Act. Permit fees had been paid for the signs each year through 1968. In State ex rel. State Highway Department v. Yurcic, 85 N.M. 220, 223, 511 P.2d 546, 549 (1973), the Court quoted the following language which is set forth in Westerman v. City of Carlsbad, 55 N.M. 550, 555-6, 237 P.2d 356, 359 (1951): The essential elements of an equitable estoppel as related to the party estopped are: (1) Conduct which amounts to a false representation or concealment of material facts, or, at least, which is calculated to convey the impression that the facts are otherwise than, and inconsistent with, those which the party subsequently attempts to assert; (2) intention, or at least expectation, that such conduct shall be acted upon by the other party; (3) knowledge, actual or constructive, of the real facts. As related to the party claiming the estoppel, they are: (1) Lack of knowledge and of the means of knowledge of the truth as to the facts in question; (2) reliance upon the conduct of the party estopped; and (3) action based thereon of such a character as to change his position prejudicially. In State ex rel. State Highway Dept. Etc. v. Shaw, 90 N.M. 485, 565 P.2d 655 (1977), the Court agreed with the defendants' assertion that equitable estoppel precluded the State from denying their recovery of the enhanced value of their land in that condemnation proceeding. This Court rejected the trial court's reasoning that estoppel did not apply because there was no false representation or concealment on the part of the State Highway Department. We said: The trial court failed to apply that part of the Yurcic test which triggers an estoppel claim when the conduct ... is calculated to convey the impression that the facts are otherwise than, and inconsistent with, those which the party subsequently attempts to assert ... It is clear that the Department is now adopting a position that is contrary to its representations to the defendants in 1973. Representations that are contrary to the essential facts to be relied upon, even though made innocently or by mistake, will support the application of the estoppel doctrine. (Emphasis added.) Id. at 488, 565 P.2d at 658. In the case at bar, the district court found that plaintiffs failed to show that they had relied on the Department's representation that the relocation of the signs would not affect the owner's right to compensation. It is our opinion that this finding is in error. By granting permission to plaintiffs to relocate the signs, the Department's conduct conveyed to plaintiffs that the right to compensation would not be affected. Plaintiffs acted upon that permission as is evidenced by the fact that the signs were moved to new locations soon after the permission was granted. The finding of the district court in this regard is reversed. We hold that the Department is equitably estopped from claiming that plaintiffs McClures' signs were newly erected and are subject to removal without just compensation. The decision of the district court is thus affirmed in part and reversed in part. The cause is remanded to the district court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. IT IS SO ORDERED. PAYNE and FEDERICI, JJ., concur.