Sterrett v. Board of Supervisors

23 Va. Cir. 153, 1991 Va. Cir. LEXIS 55
CourtVirginia Circuit Court
DecidedFebruary 22, 1991
DocketCase No. (Chancery) 12938
StatusPublished

This text of 23 Va. Cir. 153 (Sterrett v. Board of Supervisors) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Virginia Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sterrett v. Board of Supervisors, 23 Va. Cir. 153, 1991 Va. Cir. LEXIS 55 (Va. Super. Ct. 1991).

Opinion

By JUDGE THOMAS D. HORNE

On September 6, 1990, complainants filed with this Court a Bill of Complaint consisting of forty-seven numbered paragraphs, including the prayer for relief. The Bill contains fifteen counts in which the rezoning of certain property in the area of Round Hill, Virginia, is attacked for a variety of reasons. With two exceptions, the complainants are described as either property owners or having an interest in property subject to the rezoning. The two parties complainant who do not own lots adjacent to the rezoned parcel are described as residents of the Town of Round Hill. All of the complainants allege that they are taxpayers of the County of Loudoun.

Among the respondents named in the Bill of Complaint are the following: The Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County; the County of Loudoun; the Town of Round Hill; Round Hill Associates; Thomas Nalls, Trustee; Richard C. Riemenschneider, Trustee; James E. Hoyle; Douglas A. Nichols, Trustee; A. William Leeman, Trustee; John E. [154]*154Corbally, James M. Furman, Phillip M. Grace, Trustees for John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; American Security Bank, N.A.; Junius S. Morgan, Trustee; Katherine O’Leary McQuie, Trustee; Geoffrey A. Eckles, Trustee under the Will of Anita Heurich Eckles, deceased; and Amelia Alice Eckles Lord, Trustee. Collectively, these individual respondents represent all of those entities or persons having an interest in, or are responsible for, the rezoned properties affected by the instant litigation.

At issue in this case is the rezoning of over 1,000 acres of land located to the north, east, and south of the Town of Round Hill, Virginia. The Bill recites the history of the rezoning applications for the tract culminating in approval of the rezoning on August 7, 1990, by the Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County. Complainants suggest that this action of the Board is invalid for a variety of reasons. The reasons include the following: the improper exercise by the Board of its delegated police powers in bringing about the rezoning; the creation of an illegal monopoly through the rezoning process; an invalid delegation of authority to a private developer; a failure to comply with jurisdictional procedural requirements; a failure to comply with the conditions of the proffers or, in the alternative, approval of proffers contrary to statute; failure to comply with the commission permitting requirements of § 15.1-456, Code of Virginia, as amended; the public cost assessment requirements of § 1208.2, et seq., of the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinances; the illegal imposition of a moratorium on the availability of sewer taps as a result of certain proffers; and an illegal usurpation of the authority of the Town of Round Hill to control the expansion of its own water and sewage treatment system.

These general categories of attack are, as observed earlier, broken down into fifteen specific Counts. Thus, Counts I and II allege a failure to follow the Comprehensive Plan. Count III suggests the unlawful and unauthorized exercise of the conditional zoning power. A generalized attack on the rezoning is set forth in Count IV which contends the act of the Board is unreasonable, having no substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals or general welfare. Count V contains an allegation of an improper delegation of authority by the Board to the Town of Round Hill. It is alleged in Count VI, that [155]*155the Board has created an illegal monopoly. Complainants suggest in Count VII that the Board, without authority, delegated to a private party and to the Town, matters relating to the providing of water and sewage treatment without the consent of the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority. In Counts VIII, IX, and XV, the complainants suggest certain procedural defects in the notice requirements of the Code preliminary to a rezoning. Count X contains an allegation that the proffers submitted were not properly executed. Complainants contend in Count XII that the rezoning must fail as a result of a failure to comply with the commission permit requirements of § 15.1-496 of the Code of Virginia. In Count XII, the complainants allege the rezoning is illegal because of a failure of the Board to comply with the terms of the County Zoning Ordinance regarding public cost assessments. It is complainants’ contention in Count XIII that the rezoning will result in an illegal moratorium on sewer availability within the Urban Limit Line as defined by the Round Hill Area Management Plan. Lastly, Count XIV alleges that the rezoning has resulted in an illegal usurpation by the Board of the Town of Round Hill’s right to determine the nature and extent of any extension to their water and sewage system.

These pleadings are confusing. Given the multiplicity of parties and causes of action, there exist problems with respect to issues of standing and justiciability. This is particularly true in light of the relief sought. Complainants seek to set aside the rezoning by the Board of Supervisors. However, the pleadings raise individualized objections to various aspects of the rezoning. Thus, while a proffer may be illegal or unreasonable, invalidation of a proffer need not necessarily invalidate the Ordinance. An analysis of the issues raised in the context of the relief sought drives one to the inescapable conclusion that each Count is but another vindication of the view of the complainants that the Board exceeded the limits of the legitimate exercise of its right to rezone, pursuant to Article 8, Chapter 11, of Title 15.1 of the Code of Virginia.

Due process considerations are not raised by these pleadings. The procedural prerequisites to a proper exercise of legislative authority and the exercise of that authority, [156]*156as pleaded, are central to this case. Thus, while an adjoining landowner has a right to contest the rezoning, the facts alleged do not individualize and make specific what may give that party standing to complain of the illegality of a particular proffer. For, as observed earlier, it does not necessarily follow that the invalidation of an individual proffer will result in the invalidation of the rezoning.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has elected to exercise the authority delegated to it to include provisions in its Zoning Ordinance relating to voluntary proffers in connection with the consideration of an application for a rezoning. Section 1202.1, Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance. The purpose of such "conditional zoning" is:

to provide a more flexible and adaptable zoning method to cope with situations found in such zones . . . whereas, a zoning reclassification may be allowed subject to certain conditions proffered by the zoning applicant for the protection of the community that are not generally applicable to land similarly zoned.

Section 15.1-491.1, Code of Virginia, as amended.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance, the Board is guided by certain requirements in acting upon a petition for a rezoning. Section 1208.2, et seq.

A petitioner may, however, provide by proffer, for necessary improvements in lieu of having met the specific requirements for development set forth in § 1208.2. See, Section 1208.2.5, Zoning Ordinance of Loudoun County. Whether or not the acceptance of a proffer will invalidate a zoning ordinance amendment is dependent upon the individual facts of the case and whether or not the rezoning is reasonable upon an application of the "fairly debatable" test. This is to be distinguished from a challenge by the applicant

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Bluebook (online)
23 Va. Cir. 153, 1991 Va. Cir. LEXIS 55, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sterrett-v-board-of-supervisors-vacc-1991.