United States v. 22.80 Acres of Land, More or Less, in the County of San Benito, State of California

By this appeal, the government challenges the amount of compensation awarded to landowners in an eminent domain proceeding. The district court found that the fair market value of the rock taken from appellee’s property was $.60 per ton for the limestone and $.25 per ton for the decomposed granite. Based upon the undisputed quantities actually removed by the government, the court entered judgment for the landowners in the amount of $642,-954.50. The government maintains that the district court erred in valuing the rock taken by using an estimated future income method without capitalizing or discounting the income to present value. The government also argues that the evidence of market demand for the decomposed granite was insufficient to support the award of just compensation based upon estimated future income.

District court jurisdiction for the condemnation proceeding exists pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1358 . We have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

BACKGROUND

The property at issue in this case is the Pearce Quarry, which is located approximately five miles southwest of the town of San Juan Bautista in San Benito County, California. The Quarry was…