Action Sound Inc. v. Dep't of Transp.

In this appeal, Action Sound contends that the trial court erred by granting the Department of Transportation’s motion for new trial and in its jury instruction on damages. We agree with the latter contention. After carefully considering the instruction as a whole, we find that the charge at issue constituted reversible error; we reverse on that ground. As part of a state highway project, in July 1998, the DOT filed a declaration of taking against 0.1444 acres of land and certain easement rights belonging to Daniel R. Coty, Inc., and others. At the time of the declaration, the DOT’s appraiser “estimated that the just and adequate compensation for said parcel, and any consequential damages or benefits considered, is in the amount of $465,650.00.” Action Sound, Inc., the lessee of the site, sought to intervene because the condemnation obliterated its existing business, a convenience store/fuel stop operated on the property.

Dissatisfied with the DOT’s appraisal, Daniel R. Coty, Inc., appealed that valuation. Daniel R. Coty, Sr., was the sole shareholder of Action Sound, Inc. and Daniel R. Coty, Inc. Coty had bought the property at issue from Shell in 1980, and in 1982, he converted the existing station into a convenience store/fuel stop. There, Coty operated a Shell convenience store until 1989 when he leased the site to Golden Isles Petroleum. Coty “took it back over” from Golden Isles in January of 1996, when Golden Isles’ five-year lease ended. On February 1, 1996, Daniel R. Coty, Inc., entered a 15-year lease with Action Sound, Inc., as lessee. After undergoing remodeling, the refurbished facility reopened in March 1996.