Walker v. South Chester Railroad

Citations

• 174 Pa. 288
• 34 A. 560
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 879

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Eminent domain — Damages—Evidence.</p> <p>In estimating damages for land taken by a railroad company the condition of the property before or after the completion of the road which fixes its value is its actual condition, and not a prospective or possible condition depending upon future individual or municipal action.</p> <p>Where land within the limits of a borough was taken by a railroad, a plan of streets of a borough, prepared after the location of the road, and' not approved until after the railroad was built, is not admissible in evidence on the question of plaintiff’s damages.</p> <p>In such ease it is competent for the plaintiff to show that his land could be improved, that the time for another and a more advantageous use had arrived, and that the natural development of the borough had brought the land into the market for building purposes; but the introduction at the trial of a street plan adopted after the completion of the road made the future action of the borough authorities an element of value at the time of the taking.</p> <p>The fact that streets existed, and that their natural extension would reach the plaintiff’s land, were facts open to observation and proper for the consideration of the jury; but the future action of the borough authorities in the extension of existing streets, or in the opening of new ones, was a matter of mere conjecture, and incompetent as evidence on the question of damages.</p>