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Compensation for Condemnation of Temporary Easements

By Stewart E. Sterk
April 28, 2008

When the state condemns a temporary easement that encumbers the frontage of a vacant parcel, but uses the easement for only a fraction of the easement's total duration, how should the landowner's compensation be computed? In McCurdy v. State (NYLJ 3/21/08, p. 27, col. 3), the Court of Appeals concluded that landowner was entitled to consequential damages for harm to the interior land not encumbered by the easement, but only for the period when the state's use of the easement obstructed landowner's access to the interior of the parcel. The court's opinion, however, did not foreclose the possibility of more generous compensation in a future case.

The McCurdy Facts

In 1980, McCurdy purchased a vacant quarter-acre parcel fronting on the Montauk Highway in the Town of Islip. McCurdy operated a dental office on an adjacent parcel, which he did not own. In 1999, the state set out to reconstruct the highway, and appropriated a 71-square-foot slice of McCurdy's land. The parties do not dispute that the value of this slice was $850. At the same time, however, the state appropriated a temporary easement over a larger, 679-square-foot slice of McCurdy's land. The temporary easement was designed to facilitate grading during reconstruction of the road, and was to terminate upon completion of the highway work. The temporary easement ultimately terminated on Feb. 1, 2001, nearly two years after the condemnation had become effective.

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