2007

Seymour v. City of Alexandria

Supreme Court of Virginia

273 Va. 661, 643 S.E.2d 198

Seymour had a residential lot that he wanted to subdivide into two lots. At a public hearing before the Planning Commission, neighbors testified that they did not want large houses built on the lots as that would be incompatible with the neighborhood, and would affect the values of their properties. The Commission denied Seymour’s application, which denial was upheld by the Alexandria City Council. On appeal to the circuit court, the court ruled that the subdivision ordinance was invalid to the extent that the City interpreted it to permit consideration of future improvements to subdivided lots. Trial court affirmed disapproval of Seymour’s application. Supreme Court reversed only as to the denial of the subdividing. The trial court’s decision was plainly wrong and without evidence to support it. Supreme Court held that the value of the lots would not be diminished by splitting one lot into two, and that valuation based on the neighbor’s future speculation could not serve as the basis for the denial of the subdivision application.

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