The Virginia Supreme Court’s opinion in Sinclair v. New Cingular Wireless PCS, Record No. 101831 (January 13, 2012) narrowly read the authority of planning commissions to make certain approvals delegated by zoning ordinance, spurred the dissent of two justices and surprised a lot of local government attorneys. The case arose out of development proposed on a [...]

In the trial court, Campbell County lost, and lost big.  The judgment appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court included $ 9 million in damages, plus another $600,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.  On appeal, the County won just as big.  Campbell County v. Royal, No. 101168 (January 13, 2012). On its face, the law applied by the trial [...]

Today, the Virginia Supreme Court issued a number of opinions affecting the practice of Virginia local government law.  These summaries are from the Virginia Supreme Court website.  Click on the case numbers beside the case names to read the opinions.    101168 Campbell County v. Royal 01/13/2012 In an action by landowners for damages resulting [...]

As promised (see VaLocalityLaw April 12, 2011 post, “University of Richmond Law Review, the Sequel”), Virginia local government law finally made it as a practice area into the University of Richmond Law Review Annual Survey of Virginia Law Edition, Vol. 46, No. 1 (November 2011).  Until the website changes, the “current issue” link shows a [...]