The Town of Midland condemned a portion of a planned subdivision for an easement in which to construct a natural gas pipeline and a fiber optic line.
A contractor employed by the Town drove vehicles and equipment and maintained construction staging areas on portions of the subdivision outside of the easement for a period of time during construction.
Defendant filed a counterclaim for inverse condemnation, claiming that: a) the contractor’s actions constituted a temporary taking of portions of the subdivision; and b) the Town had inversely condemned its entire tract by adversely impacting its rights to develop it in accordance with the previously-approved subdivision plan.
The appeals court held that: a) the trial court did not err in ruling there was an inverse taking with regard the parking of construction vehicles and the temporary construction of a road on the property outside of the assessment condemned by the Town’s contractor; and b) the trial court erred in concluding that there was a regulatory taking of the property in its entirety.