Department of Transp. v. Rasmussen

On March 13, 1997, the Georgia Department of Transportation “DOT” filed a declaration of taking to condemn .216 acres of a .990 acre tract of land owned by Lloyd Rasmussen in order to widen Highway 124 at Rock Chapel Road in DeKalb County. The DOT also took .0689 acres of the tract as a permanent easement. The condemned parcel included a building which, at the time of the taking, was used as an automotive repair shop.

The building had once housed a service station. Several underground storage tanks still existed, but they were located on the portion of the land that the DOT did not take. Testimony at trial revealed the following: various state and federal regulations required that the tanks be either removed or closed underground by December 23, 1998; the property not taken could not be restored to the value it had at the time of the taking absent being made ready for commercial development and the property could not be redeveloped without removing the tanks.1