HOUSTON (CN) - The State of Texas improperly took control of a piece of land without providing compensation for a billboard on the property, the 1st Texas District Court of Appeals ruled.
Clear Channel lost its billboard when the state expanded the Katy Freeway in Harris County. The trial court ruled that Texas compensated Clear Channel and the landowner for the property, but not the billboard.
A panel of special commissioners had agreed with the state that the billboard should not be included in the assessment, because it is personal property. The trial court reversed the decision.
"Clear Channel held a 10-year lease ... and could not remove the billboard without destroying it," Judge Bland noted.
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