Mountain Venture Partnership Lovettsville II v. Town of Lovettsville Planning Commission

26 Va. Cir. 50, 1991 Va. Cir. LEXIS 537
CourtLoudoun County Circuit Court
DecidedNovember 18, 1991
DocketCase No. (Chancery) 13613
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 26 Va. Cir. 50 (Mountain Venture Partnership Lovettsville II v. Town of Lovettsville Planning Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Loudoun County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mountain Venture Partnership Lovettsville II v. Town of Lovettsville Planning Commission, 26 Va. Cir. 50, 1991 Va. Cir. LEXIS 537 (Va. Super. Ct. 1991).

Opinion

BY JUDGE JAMES H. CHAMBLIN

This cause is before the Court on the Bill of Complaint filed by the complainants, Mountain Venture Partnership, Lovettsville II, a Virginia general partnership, and James P. Campbell, Trustee (“Mountain Venture” or “the Applicant”), against the Planning Commission of the Town of Lovettsville, Virginia (“Planning Commission”) seeking certain declaratory judgment relief, relief under Section 15.1-475, and the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus. The suit arises out of the denial on April 4,1991, by the Planning Commission of the preliminary plan of Avonlea Subdivision. The Court heard evidence on October 18,1991, and took the matter under advisement.

After consideration of the evidence and the memoranda, the Court finds that the remedies of the issuance of a writ of mandamus and declaratory judgment are not available, but that, on the appeal pursuant to the last paragraph of Section 15.1-475, the disapproval by the Planning Commission of the preliminary plan of Avonlea was not based on the applicable ordinance and was arbitrary and capricious. The preliminary plan of Avonlea is ordered approved.

In May, 1990, approximately 46.5 acres of the land within the Avonlea development was rezoned with proffers by the Town of [51]*51Lovettsville. The proffers are set forth (less some exhibits referred to therein) on page two of the preliminary plan of Avonlea (Plaintiff’s Exhibits No. 1-A and 1-B). The submission by Mountain Venture is labelled “Preliminary Plan,” but neither party disputed that it is a preliminary plat as referred to in the applicable Town ordinances. Approximately 16 acres were rezoned to R-l, and approximately 30.5 acres were rezoned to R-3. The area rezoned R-3 is a townhouse development and is the area of dispute in this case.

In July, 1990, Mountain Venture filed its preliminary plan for Avonlea. The area rezoned R-2 provides for 56 single family dwelling lots, and the area rezoned to R-3 contains 194 townhouse lots. From July, 1990, until April 4,1991, the plan was reviewed by the Planning Commission at various workshops and meetings. There was considerable amount of interchange between the Planning Commission and its advisors and Mountain Venture and its advisors. As a result, various changes were made in the plan as it was originally submitted. On April 4, 1991, at a regular meeting, the Planning Commission voted 4-2 to disapprove the plan (preliminary plat) in the form as introduced into evidence as Plaintiff’s Exhibits No. 1-A and 1-B.

Before the vote on April 4,1991, members of the Planning Commission discussed the application. A motion to approve the preliminary plan died for lack of a second. A verbatim transcript of the part of the meeting shortly before and after the adoption of the motion for disapproval was introduced into evidence. Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 7. At the time Commissioner Barbara Simpson made her motion, she had before her a draft of a resolution previously prepared by the Town Attorney, Karen Donohoe Jewell. Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 14 (except for the handwritten interlineation on the second page).

A few days after the meeting, the Town Attorney had prepared, and Marsha Keim, Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission and the presiding officer at the meeting on April 4,1991, signed a resolution denying the preliminary plat. Defendant’s Exhibit No. 15. The minutes of the meeting of April 4, 1991, as taken, prepared and signed by Brenda Clagett Gillam, Recording Secretary of the Planning Commission, were admitted into evidence as Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 2.

On May 31,1991, Mountain Venture filed the present suit seeking judicial approval of the preliminary plat.

[52]*52In June, 1991, the Planning Commission approved a subdivision called Stations at Lovettsville. A portion of this subdivision is zoned R-3 and contains 54 townhouse lots. This subdivision has characteristics similar to Avonlea. It is discussed in more detail later in this opinion.

Nature of This Proceeding and the Relief Available to the Complainants

The Bill of Complaint filed by Mountain Venture contains two Counts. The first Count asks for relief in a variety of forms. It seeks a declaratory judgment on certain issues, a mandatory injunction, and relief under Section 15.1-475. The second Count prays for the issuance of a writ of mandamus compelling the Planning Commission to approve the preliminary plat.

While the various forms of relief requested present some interesting procedural questions, I am of the opinion that this case should be considered as an appeal of a disapproval of a preliminary plat under the last paragraph of § 15.1-475, which provides:

If a local commission or other agent disapproves a preliminary plat and the subdivider contends that such disapproval was not properly based on the ordinance applicable thereto, or was arbitrary or capricious, he may appeal to the circuit court having jurisdiction of such land, and the court shall hear and determine the case as soon as may be, provided that his appeal is filed with the circuit court within sixty days of the written disapproval by such local commission or other agent.

Declaratory judgment relief under § 8.01-184 et seq. is available only after the exhaustion of adequate and available administrative remedies. See, Gayton Triangle Land Co. v. Board of Supervisors, 216 Va. 764 (1976). The power to make a declaratory judgment should not be exercised where some other mode of proceeding is provided. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Bishop, 211 Va. 414, 421 (1970). Here Mountain Venture has another mode of proceeding, i.e., under the last paragraph of § 15.1-475.

If the request for a mandatory injunction directing the Planning Commission to approve the preliminary plat is a part of the requested declaratory judgment relief, then it is not available for the reasons [53]*53just stated. If the mandatory injunction request is under § 15.1-499 (an injunction to restrain a violation of Chapter 11, Title 15.1, or a town subdivision regulation adopted thereunder (see specifically § 15.1-465 requiring all towns to adopt a subdivision ordinance), then it is still not available because § 15.1-475 provides for the specific relief requested by Mountain Venture. Further, disapproval of a preliminary plat is not, in and of itself, a violation of a town ordinance. Section 15.1-499 injunctions are available to restrain, correct, or abate a violation or an attempted violation of a town ordinance. There is no town ordinance that requires the Planning Commission to approve the Avonlea preliminary plat.

Mandamus is not an appropriate remedy in this case. Mandamus may not be granted to redress the past privation of a right or the restoration of a right in the future. Its purpose is to command and not to correct an erroneous decision. See, e.g., Board of Supervisors v. Combs, 160 Va. 487 (1933). Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy used to compel a public official to perform a purely ministerial duty imposed on him by law, and, if the public official is vested with discretion or judgment, then his judgments are not subject to review by mandamus. Richlands Medical Assoc. v. Commonwealth, 230 Va. 384, 386 (1985).

As it invariably occurs in land use mandamus cases, Mountain Venture cites Planning Commission v. Berman, 211 Va. 774 (1971), and Prince William County v. Hylton Enterprises, 216 Va. 582 (1976), as authority that a writ of mandamus is a proper remedy.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Va. Cir. 50, 1991 Va. Cir. LEXIS 537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mountain-venture-partnership-lovettsville-ii-v-town-of-lovettsville-vaccloudoun-1991.