City of Jacksonville v. Twin Restaurants

• Published by:  Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals

City of Jacksonville v. Twin Restaurants, 953 So. 2d 720 – Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals, 1st Dist. (2007)

During a road improvement project where the City of Jacksonville widened a road and added turn lanes, medians, a new sidewalk, curb, gutter, bicycle lane, and drainage pipes, Twin Restaurants alleges that the installation of the median “negatively affected traffic flow of customers to the restaurant.  The city purchased a portion of the land from Twin Restaurants for $143,000, but the company also requested compensation for damages incurred for the installation of medians and recirculation of traffic flow.  Twin Restaurants could not estimate an amount of compensation for the effects of the median installation, stating that the negative effects suffered from the road improvement were inseparable from the taking of land.  In sum, the trial court awarded Twin Restaurants an additional $685,000 (plus interest) in severance damages.  The appellate court reversed the decision to award the additional $685,000 under the argument that no parking space was taken by the city whatsoever.  Customers could come and go as freely as they had before, and Twin Restaurants had no right to any particular traffic flow (as decided in Div. of Admin., State of Fla. Dep’t of Transp. v. Ness Trailer Park, Inc., 489 So. 2d 1172, 1179 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986).