1953

Hunter v. Norfolk Redevelopment & Hous. Auth.

Supreme Court of Virginia

195 Va. 326, 78 S.E.2d 893

Authority filed petition to condemn land and buildings in the City of Norfolk. Authority needed property to carry out slum clearance and a redevelopment plan that had been approved by City Council and authorized by Housing Authorities Law, Va. Code §§ 36-1 to 36-55. Landowners challenged the constitutionality of the statutes, the approval of the project by the Council, and the legality of the Authority’s creation. Trial court overruled challenges and commissioners awarded $14,000 for property. Supreme Court affirmed. By statute, Authority qualified to function. Plan of redevelopment was adopted by Council. Although the Authority intended to make some of the condemned and redeveloped property available to private enterprise for commercial development, the primary purpose of the taking was the eradication of blighted or deteriorated areas and prevention of a return to slum conditions. Any sale or transfer to a private enterprise was incidental to the primary purpose of the Act. When public use of property acquired by a municipality has ceased, the property may be sold or leased as the public welfare may demand. If an area as a whole is subject to rehabilitation, the condition of a single structure was immaterial.

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