Court Opinion

ID: 9763978
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:05:54.825745+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:52.038486
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Chiee Justice Bell:
I strongly disagree with the Opinion of the Court. The property involved has been owned and held by the *85Pennsylvania Gas and Water Company in an unimproved condition for over fifty years, and there is no evidence or proof—there is nothing except hope and speculation by the Water Company-—that there is now or in the reasonably foreseeable future there will be a need of this property for use as a reservoir. Furthermore, I disagree that replacement value has ever been or should be an appropriate test for recoverable damages in Eminent Domain proceedings. On the contrary, it has no probative value and is not proper evidence for any purpose. Cf. Buhl Foundation v. Board of Property Assessment, 407 Pa. 567, 180 A. 2d 900; Metropolitan Edison Co.’s Appeal, 307 Pa. 401, 161 A. 303; McSorley v. Avalon Borough School District, 291 Pa. 252, 139 Atl. 848; Algon Realty Co. Tax Assessment Appeal, 329 Pa. 321, 198 Atl. 49.
The test of damages (i.e., just compensation) to which an owner is entitled has heretofore been, and should continue to be, the difference between the market value of the entire property before the taking (unaffected by the taking) and the market value of the property after the taking. By “market value” is meant the price a purchaser, willing but not obliged to buy, would pay an owner, willing but not obliged to sell, taking into consideration the present use and all uses to which the property is adapted and might in the reasonable future be applied. Ward v. Commonwealth, 390 Pa. 526, 136 A. 2d 309. See also Brooks Building Tax Assessment Case, 391 Pa. 94, 137 A. 2d 273; United States Steel Corporation v. Board of Assessment and Revision of Taxes, 422 Pa. 463, 223 A. 2d 92; Buhl Foundation v. Board of Property Assessment, 407 Pa., supra.