Municipal | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Municipal – Water Surcharge – Non-Town Resident – Legislative Act

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 11, 2010
Tags: Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Municipal, Supreme Court of Virginia

A town may impose a surcharge for water and sewer service extended to county residents outside the town, and the Supreme Court of Virginia reverses the circuit court’s contrary decision that struck down the 100 percent surcharge by the Town of Leesburg on residents of Loudoun County who lived beyond town borders. Seven individuals and [...]

Paying the water bill: Case highlights disparities

By Alan Cooper
Published: September 10, 2010
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge R. Terrence Ney, Judge Thomas D. Horne, Loudoun County Circuit Court, Municipal, Supreme Court of Virginia News

Water wars are being waged in Virginia localities, and the Supreme Court of Virginia is poised to dip a toe into the murky depths. Residents of Virginia counties often pay more for water and sewer service than do the residents of towns and cities that provide the service. It’s a big issue for cash-strapped local [...]

Municipal – Rental Inspection Districts – Landlords’ Challenge

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 31, 2010
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Randy I. Bellows, Municipal, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Fairfax Circuit Court rejects plaintiff landlords’ challenge to a local ordinance that created two rental inspection districts that encompassed all of Fairfax City, and holds that the ordinance was within the express power granted under the enabling statute and the court has no authority to look behind the city council’s factual findings in support [...]

Municipal – Local Hauling Ordinance – Preemption

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 21, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Robert B. King, Municipal

A city ordinance that has been applied to plaintiff railroad’s operation of an ethanol transloading facility for the transfer of bulk shipments of ethanol from railcars onto surface tank trucks, is preempted by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, the 4th Circuit says. These appeals concern whether three separate provisions of federal law serve to [...]

Municipal – Towing Ordinance – Dillon Rule

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 16, 2010
Tags: Justice Charles S. Russell, Municipal, Supreme Court of Virginia

A Fairfax County ordinance that requires tow truck operators to tow “each vehicle to storage site located within the boundaries of Fairfax County” does not violate the federal Equal Protection Clause or contravene the Dillon Rule, the Virginia Supreme Court says in this challenge to the ordinance filed by towing companies from Arlington County and [...]

Municipal – Historic District Ordinance – Area Designation

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 15, 2010
Tags: Justice William C. Mims, Municipal, Supreme Court of Virginia

A circuit court did not err in turning away landowners’ requests to have their parcels removed from the Windover Heights Historic District in Fairfax County, including one owner’s constitutional challenge to the general Historic Districts Ordinance, and the Supreme Court of Virginia upholds judgment for the town of Vienna. The landowners challenge the ordinance as [...]

Inverse condemnation claim stems from storm water system – $217,000 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: May 31, 2010
Tags: Municipal, Newport News Circuit Court, Real Estate

In March 2008, Judge David F. Pugh ruled that the property owner’s property had been taken and damaged when the City of Newport News accepted into its storm water management system a drainage system that created a flooding condition on the petitioner’s property. In April 2010, a three-day trial was held to determine the amount [...]

Municipal – Sovereign Immunity – Garbage Truck

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 28, 2010
Tags: Judge Louis Allen Sherman, Municipal, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A woman suing for injuries after her vehicle was struck when she attempted to pass a garbage truck as it pulled away from the curb cannot sue the city employee who has governmental immunity, a Norfolk Circuit Court says. The municipal collection of garbage is a governmental function that affords municipal corporation immunity to liability [...]

Municipal – City Sidewalk – Slip & Fall – Tree Roots

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 11, 2010
Tags: Judge Mary Jane Hall, Municipal, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A plaintiff who alleges improper maintenance of a city sidewalk and the city’s failure to respond to residents’ complaints about the uneven sidewalk adjacent to tree roots can try her case; a Norfolk Circuit Court says the pleadings do not establish a defect so slight as to relieve defendant of liability as a matter of [...]

Municipal – Negligence – Officer Pursuit – UM Coverage

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 11, 2010
Tags: Judge Charles N. Dorsey, Municipal, Roanoke Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A police officer exercised discretion when he rapidly responded to a 911 call about a man high on crack and armed with a knife; the officer and the City of Roanoke are immune but stay in this auto-accident suit so plaintiff can pursue UM coverage, says a Roanoke City Circuit Court. In this case, the [...]

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