On March 2, 2012, I was pleased to give oral argument to the Virginia Supreme Court on behalf of a local government client. As is typical, I found the Justices to be polite, attentive, intelligent and inquisitive.  Not surprisingly, the justices asked good questions which went to the heart of the issues to be decided.  I [...]

Today, the Virginia Supreme Court issued one opinion affecting the practice of Virginia local government law.  The following summary comes from the Virginia Supreme Court website: 102409 City of Richmond v. SunTrust Bank 03/02/2012 The question presented by this appeal is whether a municipal corporation has the authority to tax a non-exempt entity for the [...]

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 [...]

When a court interprets or a locality applies a statute, the plain meaning controls as a general rule. The Riverside Owner L.L.C. v. City of Richmond case involved the appropriate amount for a tax exemption earned by a developer under Virginia Code § 58.1-3221 and Richmond City Code § 27-83.  These laws provided for a partial exemption [...]

On June 9, 2011, the Virginia Supreme Court held that whether equipment within a condemned business is personal property (therefore not valued as part of the take) or a fixture (therefore valued as part of the take) is a question for the condemnation jury, not the trial court.   The holding was the crux of its opinion in [...]

The Virginia Supreme Court issued these new opinions affecting Virginia local government law on June 9, 2011: 100347 Riverside Owner v. City of Richmond 06/09/2011 In a taxpayers’ action for relief from allegedly erroneous assessment of taxes on real property under Code § 58.1-3984, seeking a refund of overpayments, and recovery of attorney’s fees, the [...]

Virginia Supreme Court Opinions Affecting Local Government Law, issued on April 21, 2011: The Virginia Supreme Court issued several opinions today affecting Virginia local government law.  The following summaries come from the Virginia Supreme Court website: 092583 Volpe v. City of Lexington In a suit by the administrators of a minor decedent who was an [...]

The Virginia Supreme Court handed down several opinions impacting the practice of Virginia Local Government Law today.  These summaries are pulled from the Virginia Supreme Court website. They include: 092158 Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Chesterfield County   In ruling on a taxpayer’s application for refund of business, professional and occupational license taxes paid to a county, [...]