Property Devoted to Public Use

Property that is devoted to a public use cannot be condemned for another public use ^[51] in the absence of legislative authority permitting the condemner to take property already devoted to a public use. ^[52] The regulation of land uses under the police power, however, does not result in the property being devoted to a public use that would preclude condemnation. ^[53]

Notes:
^[51] Southern Railway Co. v. City of Memphis, supra; Memphis State Line Railroad Co. v. Forest Hill Cemetery Co., 116 Tenn. 400, 94 S.W.69 (1906).

^[52] Town of Dandridge v. Patterson, 827 S.W.2d 797 (Tenn. App. 1991); Duck River Electric Membership Corp. v. City of Manchester, supra; Williamson County v. Franklin & Spring Hill Turnpike Co., 143 Tenn. 628, 228 S.W. 714 (1920); Mobile & Ohio Railroad Co. v. Mayor and Aldermen of Union City, 137 Tenn. 491, 194 S.W. 572 (1917).

^[53] Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County v. Denson, Docket No. 01-A-01-9005-CV-00174 (Tenn. Ct. App. M.S. October 17, 1990), app. denied, (January 28, 1991).