Shapiro v. Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, a municipal corporation, condemned some two hundred fifty-eight acres of a tract of approximately four hundred twelve acres (described by the experts as being heavily wooded, with rough and difficult terrain, which was zoned as rural residential) on the edge of Rockville in Montgomery County to use as a site for a dam to aid in conservation, to prevent erosion and siltation, and to provide a recreational area, all as part of the park system.

At the trial the only contested issue was the fair market value of the land being taken. Two…