Court Opinion

ID: 9749139
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:24:47.024583+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:44.280829
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority that, under controlling statutes, the Township of Chester is not entitled to an amount greater than the fair market value of the housing units taken by the Commonwealth. I disagree, however, with the majority’s assumption that constitutional provisions requiring “just compensation” are relevant to the standard of damages to be applied. Both U.S.Const. amend. V and Pa.Const. art. I, § 10, expressly apply to “private property.” See E. Snitzer, *376Pennsylvania Eminent Domain, § 201(2)-10 at pp. 58-59 (1964). As this Court observed in Speers Borough School District v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
“[constitutional prohibitions against the taking of property without compensation apply only to privately owned property: Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania. Therefore it has always been held that the Commonwealth may take property of a political subdivision or agency without payment therefor (Chester County Institution District v. Commonwealth, 341 Pa. 49, 57, 17 A.2d 212), the right to compensation in such cases being only a matter of grace or allowance by the Legislature.”
383 Pa. 206, 208-209, 117 A.2d 702, 703 (1955). I therefore concur in the result.