Hazard Lewis Farms v. State New York

[1 A.D.2d 923 Page 923] Appeal by the State of New York from a judgment of the Court of Claims awarding the respondent the sum of $453,754.50, and
interest thereon, for the appropriation of 216.757 acres of land for the purposes of Harpur College, an institution under
the jurisdiction of the State University. The land taken is in the town of Vestal, Broome County, and is situated about a
mile west of the city of Binghamton on the south side of the Vestal Parkway, which is a part of a State highway known as Route
17. The parkway is a modern four-lane highway with a mall in the center, running a distance of about 5.2 miles from the city
of Binghamton west to the hamlet of Vestal. The property taken is rectangular in shape with a frontage on the parkway of 2,057.72
feet, a rear line of 1,999.67 feet, a depth of 4,495.65 feet on the east line and a depth of 4,741.87 feet on the west line.
Since 2.8 acres are in the highway easement the actual net taking is about 214 acres. On the date of the appropriation the
land taken and the adjacent properties on both sides of it along the parkway were zoned for commercial purposes, in the case
of the appropriated site for a depth of 200 feet. Beyond this commercial zone the land to the rear on the site taken was zoned
for residential purposes to a depth of 500 feet on the east side and 800 feet on the west side. The remainder of the property
was not restricted. The State claims that the award is grossly excessive and based upon an erroneous method of evaluation.
This argument appears to be based chiefly upon the fact that the appropriated parcel was unimproved land at the time of the
taking, and had never been subdivided into building lots for either residential or commercial purposes in accordance with
a map filed in the County Clerk's office. Testimony as to its value on a lots basis was erroneous, so the State argues, [1
A.D.2d 923 Page 924]