Mooney v. City of Overland Park, 283 Kan. 617

Summary

The Supreme Court of Kansas reviewed an eminent domain valuation dispute involving property taken by the City of Overland Park. The court held that the district court properly excluded evidence of a prior sale of a small, unimproved tract as insufficiently relevant to the value of the larger improved property, and properly admitted a prior appraisal attributable to the landowners as an admission. The judgment awarding the landowners $620,000 was affirmed.

Holdings

1. The district court properly excluded testimony about the prior sale because the small, unimproved corner tract was materially dissimilar from the larger, improved tract being condemned and the sale lacked a sufficient material or logical connection to the fair market value of the property as a whole.
2. The district court properly allowed the City to use the prior $700,000 appraisal in cross-examining the Mooneys because the appraisal, which the Mooneys had commissioned and submitted to the court-appointed appraisers, was a statement attributable to them and admissible as an admission under K.S.A. 60-460(g).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion by excluding testimony concerning the prior sale of a small corner tract as comparable-sales evidence in determining the value of the condemned property.
2. Whether the district court properly admitted the Mooneys' prior appraiser's $700,000 valuation as an admission attributable to the landowners and usable for impeachment and substantive evidence of value.

Disposition

affirmed