City Austin v. Joe M. Teague

Joe M. Teague, Adon Sitra and Cecil Ruby Company, Inc. sued the City of Austin for damages for inverse condemnation of eight and one-half acres of land bordering South Interregional Highway 35 in Austin, Texas. They asked also for an order commanding the City to issue a Water Development Permit required by the Citys Creek Ordinance. After a jury trial the court ordered the City to issue the requested permit and rendered judgment for $109,939 for a taking and damaging of the property for the period from June 26, 1975, to November 1, 1976. The City obeyed the order to issue the permit and did not appeal from that part of the judgment. It appealed only from the judgment for damages. The court of civil appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court conditioned upon a remittitur of $30,000 which the plaintiffs accepted. 556 S.W.2d 400. We reverse the judgments of the courts below and remand the cause to the trial court for a retrial of the damage issue.