Archenhold Automobile Supply Co. v. City of Waco
Archenhold Automobile Supply Co. v. City of Waco
Opinion of the Court
This is a companion case to DuPuy v. The City of Waco this day decided, Tex., 396 S.W.2d 103. It is likewise a suit against the City for damages under Article I, Sec. 17, of the Constitution of Texas, Vernon’s Ann.St. resulting from the construction by the City of the South 17th Street viaduct. As in DuPuy, there was no physical appropriation of Petitioner’s property and as the case reaches us it involves only the impairment of access rights. The Court of Civil Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court for Petitioner, Archenhold Automobile Supply Company, based on the favorable jury verdict, and rendered judgment for the City; its holding was that “ * * * the construction of the viaduct by the City was a valid exercise of its police power, and since appellee has access to its property as herein stated, and has not been denied total access to its property, there is no taking, and the loss and inconvenience it may have sustained is noncompensable.” 386 S.W.2d 174, 180. We granted the application for writ of error in this case at the time of such action in DuPuy, and the cases were submitted together.
The physical facts pertaining to the property of Archenhold are depicted on the accompanying schematic diagram and are described in detail in the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals. In relation to the property of DuPuy considered in the companion case, the property of Archenhold is located immediately across what was South 17th Street. The major difference is that the Archenhold property extends to and fronts on Franklin Avenue, whereas the DuPuy property fronted on and had access to South 17th Street only. It may also be mentioned that the location of Archenhold’s building and the viaduct leaves Archenhold with a twenty-five-foot open space which is used for parking motor vehicles.
The judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals is affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
The Court has a very able opinion in the companion case hereto, DuPuy v. City of Waco. The reasons expressed in it are, in my opinion, a just basis for a recovery by Archenhold.
At the conclusion of its opinion in this case, the Court recognizes that Archenhold had been damaged and that “indeed [it has suffered] special damage not suffered in common with the general public.”
Beyond question the property rights of Archenhold were substantially damaged for the public use. Our Texas Constitution says that no person’s property shall be taken or damaged for public use without adequate compensation being made. Article I, Sec. 17.
It follows, at least to me, that Archenhold is entitled to compensation for the damage it has suffered for the public use.
SMITH and WALKER, JJ., join in this dissent.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ARCHENHOLD AUTOMOBILE SUPPLY CO., Petitioner, v. the CITY OF WACO, Respondent
- Cited By
- 57 cases
- Status
- Published