- 20 -
public entity exercising the power of eminent domain. Koziara v.
Commissioner, 86 T.C. 999, 1006-1007 (1986), affd. 841 F.2d 1126
(6th Cir. 1988). A condemnation or involuntary conversion of
property as defined under section 1231 has not occurred in this
case.
Considering the question of the effect of the 1989 Manual
and the MOA, it was possible that they adversely affected the
value of the Elbow Lake property for agricultural use, causing a
reduction in value of the property below the $1 million
determined by petitioner's expert. Petitioner, however, only
argues that the newly issued Federal wetland regulations
prevented Lakewood's use of the Elbow Lake property for
residential development and contends that the value of the land
is $1 million based on agriculture as the highest and best use of
the property.
At trial, petitioner presented four wetlands experts who
provided credible and convincing testimony that it was highly
unlikely that Lakewood would be granted a section 404 permit by
the Corps to develop single-family residences on the Elbow Lake
property. One expert, Bernard Goode, who was employed as an
engineer by the Corps for 34 years, believed that there was a
"very low likelihood" that under the 1989 Manual, the Corps would
grant a section 404 permit to Lakewood for the proposed
residential development or that Lakewood's residential project
Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011