36 N.Y.2d 328 (1975)
An owner is not entitled to consequential damages for loss of property value resulting from highway relocation and traffic diversion if suitable access remains for the property’s next best use, even if its prior highest and best use, contingent on highway contiguity, is eliminated.
Summary
La Briola owned land zoned for retail business with frontage on Route 22. The State relocated the highway, taking a small portion of La Briola’s land but eliminating direct highway access. The property’s highest and best use was reduced to light industrial due to the highway relocation and traffic diversion. The Court of Claims awarded damages only for the land taken, but the Appellate Division added consequential damages for the unsuitable access. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the State could relocate the highway without compensating for lost frontage or traffic, provided suitable access remained for the property’s new highest and best use. The access was deemed sufficient for light industrial use, so no additional compensation was required.
Facts
La Briola owned 23.565 acres with 1,100 feet of frontage on Route 22, zoned for retail business (front 300 feet), light industrial (middle), and residential (rear). The property was used as a nursery. In 1967, the State relocated Route 22 approximately 150 feet south, constructing a chain-link fence along 941 feet of the old roadbed in front of La Briola’s property. A 165-foot section of the old road remained, with a new access ramp connecting it to the relocated Route 22. After the relocation, the property retained some frontage on the old road and had access to the new highway, but the highest and best use was reduced to light industrial.
Procedural History
La Briola filed a claim in the Court of Claims seeking compensation for the taking and consequential damages. The Court of Claims awarded $50,859 for the land taken. The Appellate Division modified the judgment, awarding an additional $236,015 in consequential damages. The State appealed to the Court of Appeals.
Issue(s)
Whether the diminution in the economic value of the remaining property was caused by a compensable loss of suitable access or by a non-compensable diversion of highway traffic due to highway relocation?
Holding
No, the diminution was caused by the non-compensable highway relocation and diversion of traffic, because the State left suitable ingress and egress for the property’s new highest and best use (light industrial).
Court’s Reasoning
The court emphasized that an owner has no vested right to the continuance of a highway or its traffic. The State can discontinue a highway and divert traffic without compensating abutting property owners for diminished value, as long as suitable access remains. “The highway and its traffic rise from a function of the State and are not a product or utility of the property.” The court distinguished this case from *Priestly v. State of New York*, 23 N.Y.2d 152 (1968), where consequential damages were awarded because the access after the taking was unsuitable for the property’s prior highest and best use. In this case, the reduction in highest and best use was due to the highway relocation, not the loss of suitable access for the property’s *new* highest and best use (light industrial). “In the case of highway relocation…the pertinent highest use in assessing suitability of access is that which survives the highway relocation.” Because the access was suitable for light industrial use, no consequential damages were owed. The court also cited *Bopp v. State of New York*, 19 N.Y.2d 368 (1967), where the loss of property value from highway relocation and traffic diversion was deemed non-compensable. The dissent argued that the elimination of normal access rendered the property unsuitable for its former highest and best use, entitling the owner to consequential damages, citing *Priestly*. The dissent emphasized that the Appellate Division found that the change in highest and best use was due to the remaining access being unsuitable, not simply the diversion of traffic.