Oyster farmers get OK for homegrown product 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 22, 2012
Tags: Land Use, York County Circuit Court, Zoning
Two York County landowners can grow oysters on their waterfront residential property for commercial purposes without special use permits, a circuit court held earlier this month. But the county board of supervisors plans to appeal the rulings, according to York County Attorney James E. Barnett Jr. Improvements in oyster-farming allow oysters to mature more quickly [...]
Fishermen lose court fight for access to Va. river
By The Associated Press
Published: October 11, 2012
Tags: Alleghany County Circuit Court, Judge Malfourd W. "Bo" Trumbo, Land Use
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Two fishermen accused of trespassing in Alleghany County have been barred from wading on a contested section of the Jackson River after a judge ruled that 18th-century grants from the English crown and the commonwealth of Virginia give private landowners control of the riverbed. Alleghany County Circuit Judge Malfourd “Bo” Trumbo [...]
Court strikes ‘time-phase’ development rule
By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 4, 2012
Tags: Land Use, Orange County Circuit Court, Real Estate
A circuit court has struck a “time-phasing” provision of a local law that would have allowed only one subdivision of a parcel every four years. At the rate required by the Orange County ordinance, it could take 40 years to develop a 175-acre parcel near Barboursville, and the owners said they would be hindered in [...]
AG sidesteps fray in fishermen trespass case
By Peter Vieth
Published: August 15, 2011
Tags: Alleghany County Circuit Court, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Judge Malfourd W. "Bo" Trumbo, Land Use
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has refused to come to the defense of fishermen fighting a $10,000 trespassing lawsuit who say they were assured by the state they had a right to stand and cast their lines in the Jackson River. Riverside landowners took the anglers to court, claiming the landowners, and not the state, [...]
Maryland locality attempts to block Christian school – $3,250,000 Settlement
By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: February 14, 2011
Tags: Federal Courts, Land Use
Plaintiffs purchased land in Anne Arundel County, Md., in 2002 with the purpose of building a permanent home for its previously existing Christian school: Arundel Bay Christian Academy (owned and operated by Riverdale Baptist Church). They were not allowed to build because the county denied their grading permit on the basis that it violated two [...]
Failure to achieve liftoff
By Peter Vieth
Published: December 20, 2010
Tags: Land Use
Augusta, we have a problem. A group of budding rocket scientists has been grounded after losing a land use battle with neighbors and local government officials over a launch site in Augusta County. Last month a court-appointed commissioner turned thumbs down on the junior rocket scientists’ bid for continued rocket launches. But there is renewed [...]
Human corpse needed to make plot a ‘cemetery,’ court says
By Alan Cooper
Published: April 23, 2010
Tags: Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr., Land Use, Supreme Court of Virginia News
When is a cemetery not a cemetery? When no human corpse is buried there, the Supreme Court of Virginia says. Kathryn Shilling saw sacred ground when she looked at a hilltop plot in Rockingham County where she buried her mother’s ashes in 1999. But her half-brother Brian Baker saw a prime piece of real estate [...]
Church, county can develop housing
By Peter Vieth
Published: April 19, 2010
Tags: Judge Claude M. Hilton, Land Use
While Episcopalians squared off last week over whether judges can decide church property disputes, an Alexandria federal judge turned aside a First Amendment challenge to a government-backed project for affordable housing units that will share a 10-story building with a Baptist church. U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton rejected the lawsuit by Arlington County resident [...]
Supreme Court hears Episcopal church case arguments
By Alan Cooper
Published: April 13, 2010
Tags: Land Use
An attorney for the national Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia told the Supreme Court of Virginia today that the award of the property of nine breakaway congregations to those congregations violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The congregations split from the diocese in 2006 in reaction to the appointment of [...]
Documentation for public road at issue in access to property – Defense Verdict
By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: March 22, 2010
Tags: Judge Thomas D. Horne, Land Use
The plaintiffs, a group of landowners, sought a declaratory judgment granting access to the landlocked property along the route of an alleged ancient public road over Short Hill Mountain outside of Leesburg. Had the plaintiffs been successful, a public road would have been declared running directly across the property of defendants. The case was dismissed [...]
VLW Verdicts & Settlements
Refine your search for VLW Verdict & Settlement Reports or send us your case results for publication. Database search feature available to VLW subscribers only - login required.
Log in to search the V & S Database
Submit a Verdict & Settlement Report
GET THE VLW DAILY ALERT
The Daily Alert from Virginia Lawyers Weekly brings you the latest legal news every morning in your e-mail. You’ll get headline news, a link to the day’s Top Opinion and more!
Click here to sign up for the Alert
STAY CONNECTED WITH VLW
Stay up-to-date with the latest news and information from Virginia Lawyers Weekly by subscribing to our RSS feeds and visiting our social media pages.
