U.S.D. No. 464 v. Porter

The opinion of the court was delivered by This is a landowners' appeal from the award in a condemnation action. Appellants were owners of a 1.38 acre tract of commercially zoned highway frontage property located in the City of Tonganoxie. For sixteen years prior to the condemnation, appellants operated a part of the liquid propane business on the property. A storage tank cradled on concrete piers was located there. The piers were four feet high and were buried approximately six feet beneath the surface of the ground. They were constructed of steel and concrete. Related equipment consisting of an electric motor, pump and various valves to load and unload propane was welded in place and attached to a concrete foundation and to an electric conduit on the site. The tank and related equipment, weighing approximately twelve to fourteen tons, were removed from the site after this litigation began. In 1979, Unified School District No. 464 condemned a tract of land belonging to Alvin Shilling for school expansion. The Shilling land surrounds the Porter land taken in this proceeding. After the expansion onto the Shilling land by the school district, the Porter land was considered unsafe because of its proximity to the school and use as a propane facility. Condemnation or purchase of the Porter land nevertheless was impossible in 1979 for lack of resources. However, in 1980, the school district's finances were in better shape. On April 10, 1980, upon learning of the appellants' obtaining a building permit from the City to build a $50,000 building on the property, the superintendent talked to Mrs. Porter on the phone and inquired about the possibility of purchasing the property. The Porters did not respond to the inquiry. On April 11, the school board authorized immediate condemnation of the property. The appellants were advised of the board's action by telephone on that date. On April 14, 1980, the condemnation action was filed and notice was published on [234 Kan. 692]