Reichelderfer v. Quinn, 287 U.S. 315 (1932)
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U.S. Supreme Court REICHELDERFER v. QUINN, 287 U.S. 315 (1932)
[Page 287 U.S. 315, 319]
enhanced the value of their property. But the existence of value alone does not generate interests protected by the Constitution against diminution by the government, however unreasonable its action may be. The beneficial use and hence the value of abutting property is decreased when a public street or canal is closed or obstructed by public authority, Meyer v. Richmond, 172 U.S. 82, 95, 19 S.Ct. 106; cf. Whitney v. New York, 96 N.Y. 240; Fox v. Cincinnati, ; Kirk v. Maumee Valley Co., 279 U.S. 797, 802, 803 S., 49 S.Ct. 507; Smith v. City of Boston, 7 Cush.(Mass.) 254; Stanwood v. Malden, 157 Mass. 17, 31 N.E. 702, 16 L.R.A. 591; or a street grade is raised, Smith to Use of Cushing v. Washington, 20 How. 135; see Mead v. Portland, 200 U.S. 148, 162, 26 S.Ct. 171; or the location of a county seat, Newton v. Commissioners, supra, or of a railroad is changed, Bryan v. Louisville & N.R. Co. (C.C.A.) 244 F. 650, 659. But in such cases no private right is infringed. [Footnote 2]
[Page 287 U.S. 315, 322]
which would be reflected in their market value, even though there were no guaranty that the park would be continued for any particular length of time. [Footnote 4] See Wilson v. Lambert, supra, page 617 of 168 U.S., 18 S.Ct. 217; cf. Susquehanna Power Co. v. State Tax Commission of Maryland, 283 U.S. 291, 296, 51 S.Ct. 434; Burbank v. Fay, 65 N.Y. 57, 64. So it was held in Thayer v. City of Boston (D.C.) 206 F. 969, where contentions very similar to those made here were rejected. See, also, Brooklyn Park Commissioners v. Armstrong, supra, page 245, of 45 N.Y. The same result has been reached with regard to the assessment of benefits arising from other types of public improvements, Whitney v. New York, supra, page 246 of 96 N.Y.; City of Chicago v. Union Building Ass'n, 102 Ill. 379, 397, 40 Am.Rep. 598; Kean v. City of Elizabeth, 54 N.J. Law, 462, 24 A. 495, affirmed 55 N.J. Law, 337, 26 A. 939; see Home for Aged Women v. Commonwealth, 202 Mass. 422, 429, 430, 89 N.E. 124, 24 L.R.A.(N.S.) 79; 1 Nichols, Eminent Domain (2d Ed.) 116; and is implicit in the statement, frequently made, that such assessments are an exercise of the taxing power. See Bauman v. Ross, 167 U.S. 548, 588, 17 S.Ct. 966; Wilson v. Lambert, supra, page 614 of 168 U.S., 18 S.Ct. 217; Memphis & Charleston Ry. v. Pace, 282 U.S. 241, 245, 51 S.Ct. 108.
[Page 287 U.S. 315, 323]
The possibility that the United States might, at some later date, rightfully exercise its power to change the use of the park lands, so far as it affected present value, was a proper subject for consideration in valuing the benefits conferred. Cf. United States v. River Rouge Co., , 46 S.Ct. 144; Sears v. Street Commissioners, 180 Mass. 274, 282, 62 N.E. 397, 62 L.R.A. 144; Whitney v. New York, supra; 1 Nichols, Eminent Domain, supra.
Property was not taken without just compensation by either the Rock Creek Park Act or the statute authorizing the construction of the fire house. The only taking occurred when the lands were condemned for the park. Just compensation, the value at that time, Vogelstein & Co. v. United States, 262 U.S. 337, 43 S.Ct. 564; United States v. New River Collieries Co., 262 U.S. 341, 344, 43 S.Ct. 565, was awarded if the benefits resulting from the proximity of the improvement, valued as the act prescribed, were, as respondents assert, set off against the value of the property taken from the same owners, Bauman v. Ross, supra; Whitney v. New York, supra; Eldridge v. City of Binghamton, supra. See Matter of City of New York, 190 N.Y. 350, 357, 360, 83 N.E. 299, 16 L. R.A.(N.S.) 335, 13 Ann.Cas. 598.
We note, but do not discuss at length, the objection that the statute authorizing the construction of the fire house is invalid because inconsistent with regulations under the Zoning Act for the District (41 Stat. 500 (D.C. Code 1929, T. 25, 521-530)), setting apart the area in the vicinity of the park for residential properties of the highest class. It is enough to say that the zoning regulations are not contracts by the government and may be modified by Congress. The record and briefs disclose no facts which require us to consider how far the exercise of the power to modify may be subject to constitutional limitations.
Reversed. Footnotes
Footnote 1 'Sec. 6. That the commission having ascertained the cost of the land, including expenses, shall assess such proportion of such cost and expenses upon the lands, lots, and blocks situated in the District of Columbia specially benefited by reason of the location and improvement of said park, as nearly as may be, in proportion to the benefits resulting to such real estate.'If said commission shall find that the real estate in said District directly benefited by reason of the location of the park is not benefited to the full extent of the estimated cost and expenses, then they shall assess each tract or parcel of land specially benefited to the extent of such benefits as they shall deem the said real estate specially benefited . ...' 26 Stat. 493.
Footnote 2 Compare the decisions holding that access to a water line may be destroyed in the interest of navigation, Gibson v. United States, , 17 S.Ct. 578; Scranton v. Wheeler, 179 U.S. 141, 21 S. Ct. 48; cf. Greenleaf Lumber Co. v. Garrison, 237 U.S. 251, 35 S.Ct. 551; or a tract of land, unrelated to that taken, incidentally damaged, Sharp v. United States, 191 U.S. 341, 24 S.Ct. 114; cf. Richards v. Washington Terminal Co., 233 U.S. 546, 553, 554 S., 34 S.Ct. 654, L.R.A. 1915A, 887, without payment of compensation.
Footnote 3 A different question is presented in the cases relied on by the court below which indicate that a dedication of land to the public, by an individual, or a conveyance to a municipality, to be used as a park, is subject to a condition or imposes a trust that the use be continued, breach of which may be restrained. Douglass v. City of Montgomery, 118 Ala. 599, 24 So. 745, 43 L.R.A. 376. Cf. City of Cincinnati v. White, 6 Pet. 431; Sheffield & Tuscumbia Street Ry. v. Rand & Moore, 83 Ala. 294, 3 So. 686. See, also, Village of Riverside v. MacLain, 210 Ill. 308, 71 N.E. 408, 66 L.R.A. 288, 102 Am.St.Rep. 164; Price v. Thompson, 48 Mo. 361; 3 Dillon, Municipal Corporations (5th Ed.) 1102. There rights in the land or against the municipality were said to have been reserved in the grantor or created in the owners of neighboring land by the terms of the grant.
Equally distinguishable are the decisions which likewise deal with the authority of a municipality, not the power of the Legislature, to divert park lands from park uses, but in which the lands were acquired by unrestricted purchase or by eminent domain. See 3 Dillon, supra, 991, 1023.
Footnote 4 As originally introduced and reported, the bill authorizing and establishing the park (S. No. 4, 51st Cong., 1st Sess.) had no provision for the assessment of benefited property. 21 Cong.Rec. 96, 353, 902, 1109, 2371, 2578-2590. Such a method of financing was suggested by Representative Payson, Id. 2580, who offered an amendment embodying this plan, Id. 3939, which, after conference, was adopted, in substance, as section 6. See Id. 3952, 3953, 5300-5303, 5673, 5902, 5903, 5988, 6163, 10417-10419, 10457, 10458, 10441-10444. In explaining the assessment provision on the floor, Mr. Payson said: 'Suppose that a man owns a piece of property, distant, we will suppose, a quarter of a mile from the park and that piece of property is worth today $1,000. Now, if by reason of the expenditure made by the Government in this great public improvement this man's property should become, in the judgment of the commission, worth $2, 000, the direct benefit thus arising to the property would be assessed against it to assist in paying for the proposed improvement.' Id. 3940.
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