City of Charlotte v. Cook

LEWIS, Judge.

The question presented in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in allowing the City of Charlotte (“the City”) to condemn a por*206tion of property belonging to defendant J. Ernest Cook and defendant Ruby H. Cook (“the Cooks”) in fee simple in order to construct a pipeline. Because the City’s actions constitute an abuse of discretion, we reverse.

The City instituted these condemnation actions under section 7.81 of its charter against the Cooks, the owners of the property, and Crescent Electric Membership Corporation, the holder of an option to purchase a portion of the…