Casey Hunt, left, and Kandice Hull, right, of McNees Wallace & Nurick. Courtesy photos
When a property is condemned in Pennsylvania, the landowner is entitled to compensation from the condemnor not only for the property interest acquired by the condemnor, but also for any loss in value to the remaining property still held by the landowner. For example, if a condemnor takes a half-acre piece of land from a one acre property, it must pay the condemnee for the half acre. But if the loss of the half acre renders the remaining property unsuitable for the construction of a home because the remainder does not meet minimum lot size requirements, that remaining half acre is now less valuable than it was before the condemnation and the landowner must be paid for that loss to his remaining land as well.
But what if a landowner has two separate properties, and the condemnation of one parcel diminishes the value of the second parcel? The Eminent Domain Code (the code) actually addresses that scenario. The code states:
