Where Virginia draws the line on public use, and why redevelopment takings face a harder test here than in most states.
Redevelopment is the category where Virginia departs most sharply from the national pattern. After the national debate over economic development takings, Virginia amended its Constitution in 2012 rather than relying on statute alone.
Article I Section 11 now places the burden of proving public use on the condemnor, with no presumption in its favour, and excludes takings where the primary use is private gain, private benefit, private enterprise, increasing jobs, increasing tax revenue or economic development.
The constitutional test and who must satisfy it.
Read moreGovernment authorityWhich bodies may condemn, and on what basis.
Read moreCondemnationThe proceeding itself.
Read moreProperty owner rightsWhat you can raise, and when.
Read moreCommercial propertyBusinesses inside a redevelopment footprint.
Read moreJust compensationThe Virginia standard.
Read moreIt should be identified and it must be proved. A general reference to revitalisation is not the same as a public use.
A transfer to a private developer invites the question the 2012 amendment was written to address.
Increasing jobs or tax revenue is expressly outside public use in Virginia where it is the primary purpose.
Grounds of defence are filed in the proceeding. The timing rules matter, so take advice early rather than late.
Article I Section 11 excludes takings where the primary use is private gain, private benefit or private enterprise. Whether a particular scheme falls foul of that is a question on the facts, for a licensed Virginia attorney.
Virginia did not leave the public use question to a blight label. The condemnor must prove public use, and the constitutional exclusions apply regardless of how the area is described.
It means the condemning body cannot simply point to its own resolution. It has to establish the public use, and the court weighs that question rather than deferring to it.
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