UDOT v. Admiral Beverage Corp.
Utah Supreme Court
2011 UT 62, 275 P.3d 208
The constitutional guarantee of just compensation arises when there is any substantial interference with private property which destroys or materially lessens its value, or by which the owner’s right to its use and enjoyment is in any substantial degree abridged or destroyed.
The constitutional requirement of just compensation is satisfied when the property owner is made whole. The owners should be put in as good a position as they would have been if the property had not been taken.
Compensation includes the market value of the property taken. If only a portion of the property is taken, severance damages are possible due to the severance of the portion and construction of the public improvement.
The fair market value of property is a composite of all factors bearing upon the market value that a prudent purchaser would take into account, without consideration of any enhancement or decrease due to the public improvement being constructed. Severance damages are measured as the reduction in market value of the remaining property, but the damage amount may lessened by any increase in value due to construction of the improvement.
