1914

Lake Bowling Alley, Inc. v. Richmond

Supreme Court of Virginia

116 Va. 429, 82 S.E. 97

Pursuant to an ordinance, City lowered grade of street. Assessor gave notice to landowner that damages assessment was $50. This assessment was not timely appealed, and City approved resolution of that amount. When landowner later filed an action for damages against the City, the trial court sustained the City’s plea of res adjudicata, and dismissed case. Supreme Court affirmed. Assessor may have filed his report prematurely, but as landowner did not seek appellate review, he could not be prejudiced by the early filing. The special assessment statute, which did not provide for a jury trial, was not unconstitutional as the General Assembly had replaced the jury with commissioners in 1874. A landowner had a right of appeal de novo from the assessment to the circuit court and this was constitutionally acceptable.

Back to Case Finder Main Page
Volume One Indexes:
To Case Name Index
To Topic Index
To Date Index
To Code Section Index