Court Opinion

ID: 9694433
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:41:29.563198+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:01.266152
License: Public Domain

*438Kelleher, J., whom Roberts, C. J.,
joins, dissenting in part and concurring in part. With regard to that portion of their land that unquestionably abuts the freeway line, the Parrillos have shown the requisite “substantial impairment” of their right of access that was discussed at length in Aust v. Marcello, 112 R. I. 381, 310 A.2d 758 (1973).
I cannot approve that portion of the trial justice’s award which represents the loss in value attributable to the appraiser’s apprehension as to a potential “prudent”1 purchaser’s doubt about the extent of access available to the land lying to the rear of the line designated as a State Highway Line. While one must commend the appraiser’s detailed breakdown of his before and after analytical valuation of the Parrillos’ parcel, I cannot subscribe to his devaluation of this particular portion of the subject real estate because, he alleges, the draftsman has failed to clearly delineate the place where the Freeway Line ends and the State Highway Line begins.
The statement of taking encompasses real estate in the town of Johnston situated between Hartford and Green-ville Avenues. The statement is replete with some nine pages of a legal description. The Parrillo property is found in Area B. Area B contains approximately 138 acres. The portion of the description of Area B that is pertinent to the issue in question reads:
((# * *
“thence generally southerly along a Freeway Line, in a straight line, through said Parrillo land to a point opposite and sixty (60) feet northeasterly from P.T. *439Station 39+81.52 on said Relocated Hartford Avenue Base Line;
“thence southeasterly along a Freeway Line in a straight line, through said Parrillo land to a point opposite and sixty (60) feet northeasterly from P. C. Station 38+06.25 on said Relocated Hartford Avenue Base Line;
“thence southeasterly along a State Highway Line, in a straight line, through said Parrillo land, through land now or formerly of Carlo and Josephine Iafrate and through said Parrillo land to a point opposite and thirty (30) feet northeasterly from Station 116 + 00 on said Existing Hartford Avenue Base Line;
* * ))
It is obvious that a plat map is drawn after the engineer or surveyor has prepared the description. The condemnation plat contains nine sheets of which a copy of sheet 4 is an exhibit. Since one picture is worth a thousand words, the reader’s attention is directed to the following sketch. It shows how the Parrillo property appears on the plat. The sketch is not drawn to scale but it contains sufficient pertinent information which one would see if sheet 4 itself could be used instead of the sketch.2
It is clear from the sketch (and from sheet 4) that the mechanical draftsman has done his job well. The description speaks of the Freeway Line running generally southerly in a straight line through said Parrillo land to a point opposite and 60 feet northeasterly from P.T. Station 39+ 81.52, thence southeasterly along a Freeway Line in a straight line through said Parrillo land to a point opposite and 60 feet northeasterly from P.C. Station 38 + 06.25. The draftsman of the description then refers to a State High*440way Line running in a straight line through the Parrillo land, through land now or formerly owned by Carlo and Josephine Iafrate and then through said Parrillo land to a point opposite and 30 feet northeasterly from Station 116 + 00 on the Existing Hartford Avenue Base Line. As one looks at and traces the broken line (------) southeasterly from P.C. Station 38+06.25, he can see that it is clearly labeled as a "State Highway Line.” There is no ambiguity as to the symbols on the plat.
I maintain that any ambiguity regarding the symbols is due, in fact, to the experts’ (both the Parrillos’ and the State’s) relying upon their own rough tracings and sketches of the plat. The exhibits prepared by the appraisers are inaccurate and misrepresentative of the area in issue. Their diagrams are not drawn to scale and they incorrectly depict the routing of the highway line and its length. In addition, certain symbols are out of position. It is quite apparent that the experts drew their sketches from the Johnston Tax Assessor’s map which has a scale of one inch equaling 240 feet and not from the condemnation map which utilizes a scale of one inch to 100 feet. No attempt was made to adapt the former scale to the latter. This fact complicated the appraisers’ interpretation of their graphics. Any examination of these drawings would cause confusion as to the delineation between the two types of lines in question. Had the appraisers made use of and testified from only sheet 4, the problem could have been brought into a proper focus and easily resolved.
Conformity is found between the description and the condemnation plat map. The uncertainty as to the extent of access arises solely from the introduction of a third instrumentality, the aforementioned “art work” of the experts.
The Parrillos’ appraiser determined that there were *441153,600 square feet3 of Parrillo land lying behind the State Highway Line which would be affected by the indefinite extent of access. He valued the Parrillos’ loss for this uncertainty at 15 cents a square foot. Since it is clear that the Parrillos will continue to have direct access to Hartford Avenue all along this particular area, I would reduce the trial justice’s award by $23,040 plus a proportionate diminution in the interest.
Jackvony & DeConti, Louis M. Cioci, for petitioners.
Stephen F. Mullen, Chief Special Counsel, Department of Transportation, for respondent.
The court, as constituted at the time the case was argued, is evenly divided as to the amount of damages due the petitioners and, therefore, the judgment entered in the Superior Court stands.
Petition for reargument denied.

*442

From the size of the award, the Parrillo land can certainly be classified as premium-priced property. Even though the artistry of the mechanical draftsman was flawless, I do not believe that the purchaser whose offer to the Parrillos would be based solely on his perusal of the condemnation plat without any reference to the description which accompanies the plat deserves such an appellation as “prudent.”

 A photostatie copy of a portion of sheet 4 is attached as an appendix. Any attempt to incorporate sheet 4 within the body of this opinion would cause a reduction in its size to a point where its legibility would be substantially impaired.

The appraisers testified that parcels selling in the area were 400 feet in depth. He said that the highway line measured 384 feet in length. However, a ruler applied to the line that runs southeasterly from P.C. Station 38+06.25 shows that it goes a distance of approximately 436 feet to the Iafrate land, runs past the Iafrate property and then past more of the Parrillo property for a distance of 175 feet.