Opinion ID: 1436844
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mancini Property

Text: Next, Ocean Road Partners challenged the trial court's rejection of the Mancini property as a comparable property for purposes of determining Black Point's fair-market value. Ocean Road Partners pointed out that although the Mancini property was zoned differently from the Black Point property, the two properties were located in close proximity to each other and the Mancini property was negotiated for sale at the approximate time of Black Point's condemnation. Ocean Road Partners therefore argued that the two-acre Mancini property should be considered as having comparable value to the two-acre lots in Black Point. The trial justice dismissed this argument in his bench opinion when he stated that two R-40s do not make an R-80. He remarked further that the sale took place subsequently to the condemnation of Black Point and that Coyle had failed to consider the right of a purchaser to build two single-family dwellings on the R-40 lots. Having carefully reviewed the evidence and the decision of the trial court, this Court concludes that the trial justice did not overlook or misconceive material evidence and was not clearly wrong in dismissing the Mancini property as a comparable one. Harbor Marine Corp. v. Briehler, 459 A.2d 489, 492 (R.I. 1983). It is well established that the value of property increases if the property is densely zoned. Ocean Road Partners, 612 A.2d at 1110. The record clearly shows that the Mancini property was zoned more densely and less restrictively than was Black Point. Therefore, the trial justice's finding that the sale of the Mancini property was not an adequate comparable sale was a factual determination well within his discretion to make, which determination was not clearly wrong.