Court Opinion

ID: 9679424
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:52:40.216419+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:16:12.748110
License: Public Domain

SIMONETT, Justice
(concurring specialty)-
I agree with Justice Wahl’s dissent, for the reasons therein given, that the sound barriers are not a “proper street use”; however, I concur in the court’s reversal on the ground plaintiffs’ proof fails to meet the Alevizos test.
Proving diminution in market value is difficult, and in the nature of things it must be. Prior to the erection of sound barriers, the easement of air, light, and view was already impaired by heavy traffic, which traditionally, in my view, is a “proper street use.” To compound the difficulty, the purpose and effect of the sound barriers was to alleviate this impairment by presumably lessening the noise, perhaps aggravating the fumes, and exchanging one scenic view for another (a view of Interstate 35W for a view of the barrier). Consequently, to show a diminution in market value, something more than Mr. Patchin’s opinion, which was both speculative and lacking in foundation, is needed to compel the state to condemn.