Sultan Water & Power Co. v. Weyerhauser Timber Co.
Sultan Water & Power Co. v. Weyerhauser Timber Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
— Respondent brought this action to condemn a right of way 100 feet wide for a ditch and flume across 'lots 8 and 14 in section 19, township 28 1ST., range 8 E., "W. M., in Snohomish county, Wash., and for the erection of a dam across the Sultan river at a point on lot 8. The appellant is the owner of lots 1, J, 8, and 14, and the east half of the southeast quarter of section 19, which is one body of land on the east bank of the Sultan river. It also owns large tracts of lands to the north and east of section 19. These lands are valuable for the timber standing thereon. The Sultan river is navigable for floating logs, shingle bolts, and wood down stream. The dam which respondent proposes to construct across the river is to be 50 feet wide at the base, 10 feet wide at the top, and 25 feet high. Respondent proposes to take out of the river at the dam 60 cubic feet of water per second of time. Upon the service and filing of the petition for condemnation the parties appeared, a hearing was had, and the court adjudgéd that the contemplated use of the premises sought to be appropriated was really a public use, and that the land and water claimed were required and neces
Respondent moves to dismiss this appeal because no motion for a new trial was made by appellant. On questions of this character no motion for a new trial is necessary. Carter v. Seattle, 21 Wash. 585 (59 Pac. 500) ; Bal. Code, § 5056. The motion to dismiss is therefore denied.
The court at the trial limited the inquiry as to the damages to tire lands actually taken and to the remainder of the lands described in the petition, which were lots 8 and Id in section 19. The appellant offered to show that it was the owner of other lands adjacent to the tract described in the petition, and which will be damaged by increased expense in logging the timber therefrom by reason of the ditch and flume, and also by reason of the obstruction in the river. Five sections of these lands lie to the northwest of section 19, on the opposite shore of the river from the lands sought to be condemned. These sections are not adjoining, except that they corner together. They do not comprise a continuous tract, but lots 1 and 7 and the east half of the southeast quarter of section 19 are in one body with lots 8 and Id, described in the petition, and constitute an entire tract. We think the court erred in not permitting evidence by appellant to show what damage the construction of the ditch and flume would cause to the lands owned by appellant in one body in section 19. Section 16, art. 1, of the Constitution, pro
In regard to the other sections of land, the court, we think, properly rejected evidence as to damages thereto, because they are not adjacent to sectionl9, and are contiguous only by reason of the fact that section 17 has a common comer with section 19. Other sections likewise corner with each other at a common point. These lands are on the opposite side of the river from the lands through which the ditch and flume run, and are from one to five miles distant from the proposed improvement. If they shall be damaged at all, it is by reason of the dam across the Sultan river, which may become an obstruction to the logs floated down, and not by reason of the right of way condemned across other lands of appellant, or of any im
Appellant also complains because the court refused to permit questions as to the use of the water for a fish pond. He was permitted to ask the president of the respondent company if the water was for use for that purpose, and the answer was in the negative. The witness was then asked if he had not stated to other persons that the water was to be put to such use. "We think this
For the error above discussed, the cause is reversed for further proceedings.
Fullerton, C. J., and Hadley, Dunbar, and Anders, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sultan Water and Power Company v. Weyerhauser Timber Company
- Cited By
- 21 cases
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- Published
- Syllabus
- APPEAL — REVIEW-NECESSITY OP MOTION FOB NEW TRIAL. A motion for a new trial for alleged error of the court in. refusing to allow the introduction of certain evidence is unnecessary as a preliminary to the review of such error on appeal. EMINENT DOMAIN-APPROPRIATION OF LAND-MEASURE OF DAMAGES. In condemnation proceedings to appropriate a right of way for ditch and flume purposes through defendant’s land, the measure of defendant’s damages would be the value of the land taken, together with the decrease in value of the balance of defendant’s lands lying in one continuous tract adjacent to that taken, but not the injury to other tracts which merely have a common corner and are not otherwise part of a continuous tract. SAME-RESULTING INJURY TO RIGHT OF NAVIGATION. Where lands are appropriated for the purpose of constructing a dam across a navigable stream with one end resting on the lands sought to be appropriated, damages by reason of the obstruction of navigation would not be an element for consideration in the condemnation proceedings, but it would be necessary to litigate such damages in another action brought for the specific purpose. SAME-PUBLIC USE-EVIDEN CE. Where the court has already adjudged that the appropriation of land for the construction of a dam across a stream was for a public use, it was not error for it to 'exclude evidence to the effect that the appropriator had stated the water was to he used as a fish pond.