1994

Lynch v. Commonwealth Transp. Comm’r

Supreme Court of Virginia

247 Va. 388, 442 S.E.2d 388

Lynch owned 117 acres of land and was in the process of rezoning the land from residential to general industrial. A development plan had been drafted and a Board of Supervisor’s task force had recommended an industrial and office complex for the property. Approval of the rezoning was a virtual certainty. Commissioner needed a 9.358-acre tract for highway development and filed petition for condemnation. At trial, Commissioner moved to exclude exhibits concerning Lynch’s existing plans for the take and residue. Trial court excluded exhibits and testimony of development plans as too speculative and hypothetical. Supreme Court stated that the test for damages to the residue is the value immediately before and after the taking. Jury may consider non-speculative circumstances, present or future, that affects residue’s value at the time of the take. In this case, the evidence was not remote and speculative, but was based on study and planning, representing a real and present potential use in light of existing conditions and circumstances. Reversed and remanded.

Note: Upon retrial, case was again appealed and is found at 255 Va. 227, 495 S.E.2d 247.

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