2017

City of Norfolk v. Hedgepeth

Virginia Circuit Court

96 Va. Cir. 199

City of Norfolk sought to condemn permanent utility easement on one side of landowner’s property, and vacate a seventy-year old easement on the other side. City’s appraiser concluded that vacating the old water line easement was an enhancement and made a deduction from the appraised value of the new easement to account for that enhancement. Landowner objected, asserting that by Va. Code § 25.1-230(A)(1) enhancements to property may not be offset against the value of the property taken, but may be offset against damages to the residue. Court held that the measure of damages to the residue is the difference in the residue’s value immediately before and after the taking. There was no evidence of any diminution in market value immediately after the taking as a result of the City’s decision to fill the old pipe with flowable fill. The landowner could not expect to be compensated for the removal cost of the old pipe immediately after the take. As there was no difference in the market value of the residue immediately before or after the take, there was no damage to the residue. Enhancement was not a source of offset to the value of the property taken.

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