On May 19, a team of great folks at Sands Anderson and our special guest Karen Harwood conducted a webinar on the State of Vested Rights (in Zoning), 2010 — the first installment of an ongoing series called the Sands Anderson Land Use Forum.  We’ve been busy!  (This will explain, in part, the length of time since my [...]

J&D Partnership v. Board of Equalization Loudoun County Circuit Court, Civil Action No. 58503 In 2008, as the real estate market stagnated, the Loudoun County Board of Equalization (BOE) received a huge spike in assessment appeals, far more than in the past. This was especially true with appeals of assessments for commercial properties, which are [...]

The Virginia Supreme Court issued three opinions involving localities as parties on April 15, 2010: 090659 City of Alexandria v. J-W Enterprises, Inc. 04/15/2010 In a contribution suit, the trial court did not err in finding that an off-duty police officer working an “extra-duty detail” at a restaurant was performing a public function when he [...]

Recently, I helped the CPEAV train members of Boards of Zoning Appeals for various localities.  The group of appointed zoning officials was lively and interested in the law they were expected to apply.  But through their questions and comments, I was reminded just how difficult it can be to apply the legal standard for a variance when applied to [...]

The “long overdue award” for the 2010 General Assembly session goes to HB 1063, which finally provides that a board of zoning appeals will not be a party on appeal of its decisions to circuit court. Interestingly, the long-standing requirement to name the BZA was not statutory, but based upon the determination in a Virginia [...]

Did you feel it? HB 1250 has been approved by the Virginia General Assembly. And with it, a major shift has occurred in the law of vested rights.  Vested rights is a legal principle arising from common law under which a developer can acquire the property right to develop a specific project despite a change in zoning which would no longer [...]

Local governments in Virginia get involved in litigation in federal courts from time to time. Some do quite frequently. I am sharing an article by my Sands Anderson associate, Broderick Dunn, to give you an overview of the recent federal rules changes regarding computation of time in filings, responses and discovery.  This article is an edited [...]

Well, it’s over. The “reasonable person” is dead. Or is it? The U.S. Supreme Court denied the request for a writ of certiorari by the City of Virginia Beach to review the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision overturning the City’s noise ordinance in Tanner v. City of Virginia Beach, 277 Va. 432, 674 S.E.2d 848 (2009).  The Daily Press article on [...]

This informative piece was authored by Oliver Branch, an immigration attorney who works from our Research Triangle Park office in North Carolina. He also blogs at NC Law Life. ____________________________ There are three areas of immigration law where local governments are likely to need help or run into trouble:  (1) sponsoring nonimmigrant visas, (2) sponsoring immigrant [...]

Transfers of Development Rights (TDRs) have long been seen by Virginia localities as a tool for good planning and to achieve the local future land use plan.  But for a long time, Virginia localities had no authority to permit TDRs.  See Opinion to the Honorable Robert T. Andrews, 1985-86 Va. A.G. op. 112 (Loudoun County [...]