2011

Jennings v. Commonwealth Trans. Comm’r of Va.

Virginia Circuit Court

83 Va. Cir 184

Landowners had been given a permanent easement in 1966 to access land that had been divided by Interstate 77. In 2002, Commissioner expanded I-77 bridge which took away easement and caused stormwater erosion. Landowners filed a declaratory judgment for inverse condemnation in violation of Article I, § 11 of the Constitution of Virginia. Court noted that taking or damaging in the constitutional sense means the government’s action adversely affects the landowner’s ability to exercise a right connected to the property. Court held that landowners’ property was damaged and they were entitled to compensation.
Dissent by Justices Buchanan and Whittle, stating that the charter did not clearly empower the Company to expand its operation to include an additional 30,000 people, and so Company was not empowered to condemn lands to accomplish that end.

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