Court of Appeals Upholds Victory in Gardner Airport Case

The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld my jury verdict awarding a total taking in an airport case, resulting in a $590,000 award after a $25,000 good faith offer.

I have blogged extensively about issues arising in airport cases filed by Lenawee County.  In those cases, the County acquired an avigation easement allowing aircraft to fly a few feet over existing houses and placing those houses in a Runway Protection Zone.  The FAA deems residential occupancy incompatible with an RPZ.  A Lenawee County jury agreed that the imposition of the easement destroyed the practical value or utility of the home and awarded everything that we requested.  The Court of Appeals recently upheld that verdict.

To read a prior blog post describing the impact of houses in the RPZ, click here.   

For a prior blog post describing the published opinion in a companion case, click here. 

To read a blog post discussing the impact of low flights over properties, click here. 

If you are confronted with a request to grant an easement by an airport, please call me.  My experiences with Lenawee County demonstrate that airports frequently understate the impact of their proposed easements upon the properties.