Issue

Condemnation—rights asserted by owner and developer—corollary suits pending—all pleaded issues regarding taking resolved—summary judgment proper

Summary

In a condemnation matter, where the property's owner (a condominium association) and a developer (to which the association had granted certain development rights with a set expiration date) asserted rights in the property at the time of the taking by the Department of Transportation (for a temporary construction easement) and, therefore, were both parties to the eminent domain action, the trial court did not err by granting summary judgment to and distributing settlement funds in favor of the developer even though the parties' corollary actions were not yet finalized. All of the issues pleaded in the taking action and argued at the hearing held pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 136-108 had been resolved, including the total amount of just compensation (which the parties settled via consent judgment) and issues related to the parties' relative interests in the taken property. Further, the trial court had discretion under section 136-117 to determine the apportionment of compensation between the parties, including that the developer was entitled to compensation for the loss of development rights, which was in accord with the assessment of both parties' appraisers.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →