A B.C. Supreme Court judge has made a $220,000 judgment against the City of Surrey after two brothers who owned a car dealership and a friend who owned the land with them sued the city after it expropriated some of the property to build an overpass as part of the Roberts Bank Corridor Project.
Justice Nitya Iyer ordered the city to pay Dan and Reuben Springman $65,182 plus interest. Larry Visco was awarded $154,114 plus interest for “injurious affection.”
Springman and Springman Limited and 498198 B.C. Ltd. v. the City of Surrey, and Larry Visco v. the City of Surrey, were heard in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.
“I find Surrey has already fully compensated Mr. Visco and 498198 for the value of the expropriated lands,” Iyer noted in her Sept. 14 reasons for judgment.
She also noted that Surrey had already paid the Springmans $762,818 to offset business losses. “I award Springmans $65,182 plus interest in respect of its business loss claim,” she decided.
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The Springmans operated a car dealership on the Langley Bypass in Surrey on land they owned through their holding company along with Visco that the City of Surrey expropriated in March 2012, part of which was to be permanent and the other part temporary. The street address is 19550 Langley ByPass, Surrey.
Construction began that summer and was completed in October 2013, at which time the temporarily expropriated lands were returned to the plaintiff, who then sold the land and dealership at the end of that month. The dispute before the judge concerned whether Surrey had properly compensated the plaintiffs, as required under the Expropriation Act.
“On May 31, 2012, Springmans was required to move all of the vehicles from its Highway 10 frontage so that new parking could be built along the shoulder of Highway 10. This reduced the visibility of Springmans’ inventory, particularly of the vehicles that were moved to Landmark Way,” Iyer noted. “There is no question that the construction created a great deal of noise, dust and distraction. Obviously, such effects are inimical to running a successful car dealership.”
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