§ 501. Definitions

The following words and phrases as used in this chapter shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Necessity" means a reasonable need which considers the greatest public good and the least inconvenience and expense to the condemning party and to the property owner. Necessity shall not be measured merely by expense or convenience to the condemning party. Necessity includes a reasonable need for the highway project in general as well as a reasonable need to take a particular property and to take it to the extent proposed. In determining necessity, consideration shall be given to the:

(A) adequacy of other property and locations;

(B) quantity, kind, and extent of cultivated and agricultural land which may be taken or rendered unfit for use, immediately and over the long term, by the proposed taking;

(C) effect upon home and homestead rights and the convenience of the owner of the land;

(D) effect of the highway upon the scenic and recreational values of the highway;

(E) need to accommodate present and future utility installations within the highway corridor;

(F) need to mitigate the environmental impacts of highway construction; and

(G) effect upon town grand lists and revenues.

(2) Damages resulting from the taking or use of property under the provisions of this chapter shall be the value for the most reasonable use of the property or right in the property, and of the business on the property, and the direct and proximate decrease in the value of the remaining property or right in the property and the business on the property. The added value, if any, to the remaining property or right in the property which accrues directly to the owner of the property as a result of the taking or use, as distinguished from the general public benefit, shall be considered in the determination of damages.

(3) "Interested person" or "person interested in lands" or "property owner" means a person who has a legal interest of record in the property taken or proposed to be taken.

(4) "Highway" shall include park and rides. (Added 1985, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1995, No. 60, § 41, eff. April 25, 1995; 2011, No. 126 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2017, No. 38, § 16.)