Commonwealth, Department of Highways v. Enoch

PALMORE, Justice.

This is a highway condemnation case in which the interest of the landowner consisted of mineral rights only. The actual taking embraced 32.52 acres, but this acreage was so located that it separated or “landlocked” another 31.39 acres from the remainder of the owner’s mineral tract. In accordance with the instructions, which by stipulation treated the acreage taken and the landlocked acreage as separate tracts from the mineral tract as a whole, a jury awarded $9,000 as the fair market value of the 32.52 acres of mineral rights taken and $6,000 ($15,000 less $9,000) as the…