2004

Claytor v. Roanoke Redevelopment & Hous. Auth.

Supreme Court of Virginia

95 Va. Cir. 527

In 1972, City of Roanoke adopted a resolution determining that the area known as the Gainsboro Neighborhood Development Program was a blighted, deteriorating area. Landowners owned a developed block of property in that area. Their property was included as land to be acquired on an acquisition map prepared by the Authority. The map was adopted by resolutions of the City in 1975, 1983, 1986 and 1993. As a result of these resolutions, the Claytor property suffered loss of tenants and fell into significant disrepair. In 1998, the landowners were notified the Authority was no longer going to acquire the now ruined property. Landowners filed declaratory judgment seeking compensation for the taking and damaging of their property. Court held that the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. When a public entity acting in furtherance of a public project directly and substantially interferes with property rights and thereby significantly impairs the value of the property, the result is a taking in the constitutional sense and compensation must be paid. The result was a temporary taking for twenty years and the measure of compensation was the lost rental income.

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