City of Austin v. Travis County Landfill Co.

In this case we consider the constitutional standard necessary to establish a “taking” of private property by aircraft overflights under the Texas Constitution. See Tex. Const, art. I, § 17. Purporting to follow United States v. Causby, 328 U.S. 256, 66 S.Ct. 1062, 90 L.Ed. 1206 (1946), the court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s compensation award to the property owner. 25 S.W.3d 191, 204. It held that a decrease in the land’s fair market value caused by airport operations resulted in a taking even though the landowner did not show that overflight effects had directly harmed the…