Colonial Beach Town Official charged with trespassing

Town of Colonial Beach:

“Code Enforcement Official Teresa Davis was charged with trespassing following a complaint by the owner of 320 First Street Carl Springer. At the March 28 Town Council meeting, town officials discussed the issue, publicly, with respect to providing Davis with the funds to obtain representation for the case. Four of the six council members at the meeting voted to allow up to $4000 for her attorney. Linda Brubaker and Wanda Goforth voted against the measure and Gary Seeber was absent.

According to the council, Davis saw work occurring at a home and approached the contractor who was on the property. State Code allows for code officials to investigate possible code violations.

'104.6 Right of entry. Where it is necessary to make an inspection to enforce the provisions of this code, or where the building official has reasonable cause to believe that there exists in a structure or upon a premises a condition which is contrary to or in violation of this code which makes the structure or premises unsafe, dangerous or hazardous, the building official is authorized to enter the structure or premises at reasonable times to inspect or to perform the duties imposed by this code, provided that if such structure or premises be occupied that credentials be presented to the occupant and entry requested. If such structure or premises is unoccupied, the building official shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other person having charge or control of the structure or premises and request entry. If entry is refused, the building official shall have recourse to the remedies provided by law to secure entry.'

Goforth questioned whether or not Davis was within the scope of her job. According to her direct supervisor, Gary Mitchell, town manager Val Foulds and building inspector Dexter Monroe, Davis was following her job description.”

~ Writes Westmoreland News

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Virginia Supreme Court Opinions Affecting Local Government Law

Virginia Supreme Court:

“The Virginia Supreme Court issued opinions this morning.  After last term issuing no opinions significantly affecting Virginia Local Government Law (at least not in this author’s judgment), this term’s opinions are a virtual feast.  Issues involving BZA discretion, nonconforming signs, FOIA, Fraud Against Taxpayer’s Act and more.  Some are cases involving Virginia local governments, others are cases without local governments as parties, but still involve issues affecting Virginia local governments.  As always, congratulations to the winners!”

~Writes Andrew Roberts of Sands Anderson

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AG Herring backs federal Bay cleanup plan

Chesapeake Bay:

“Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced Thursday that he filed an amicus brief in support of the federal Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan that is being challenged in a federal court case by the American Farm Bureau Federation and attorneys general in 21 states. The case is pending before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a federal district court had upheld the plan…

Efforts to clean the bay have been underway since the mid-1980s. The latest plan aims to put enough pollution controls in place by 2025 to restore the bay, with most of the controls being implemented by 2017. The effort could cost Virginians more than $15 billion, according to state estimates.

Former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration worked to develop the current cleanup plan. But some environmentalists complained last year that the state was falling behind in meeting certain goals, including the use of modern methods to reduce stormwater runoff.”

~Writes Markus Schmidt of the Richmond Times-Dispatch

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Warrenton holds back 72 homes, lawsuit says

Town of Warrenton:

“A developer is suing Warrenton because he claims that the town's Planning Commission acted unlawfully when considering his proposal for a subdivision off of Winchester Street. Jeffrey Rizer wants to build 72 homes in a development called Winchester Chase, and the Warrenton Planning Commission in August voted 5-2 in favor of the project ... eventually.

Commissioners weren't pleased with the design of the project, though. They turned down several preliminary designs for Winchester Chase. The land is zoned for what Rizer wants to do, but commissioners worried where 72 families' worth of vehicles would go.

During the August vote, Commissioner John Kip said, ‘I cannot accept an entrance on Winchester Street. I think it is a potential hazard. It defaces the existing community on Winchester Street and there are opportunities to interconnect the property in two other directions.’”

~Writes Jonathan Hunley of Fauquier.com

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York sues Seaford resident; oyster farming permit at issue

York County:

“York County is asking a judge to shut down two oyster farms. Seaford resident Anthony Bavuso was served with an injunction Thursday that said he and his wife, Elyse Pyle, were illegally operating their commercial oyster business without a permit, which the state Supreme Court ruled earlier this year the county was right to require.

Dandy resident Greg Garrett is expected to receive a similar document after County Attorney James Barnett files them in York-Poquoson Circuit Court Friday. Since the ruling in January, the two have continued to farm oysters from their homes in violation of the county's ordinance and the court's ruling, Barnett said… Bavuso, who has raised oysters at his Creek Circle home in York Point for his Seaford Oyster Company since 2010, was denied a permit in 2011. Garrett, whose operation began in 2009 on Sandbox Lane, withdrew his permit request the same night.

The two men filed separate lawsuits in Circuit Court arguing that oyster farming was an allowed use of their land under the county's land-use ordinance because their residentially zoned properties allow commercial agriculture. The Circuit Court sided with Garrett and Bavuso.”

~ Writes Ali Rockett of the Daily Press

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Court ruling in land dispute could threaten bike trails

U.S. Supreme Court:

“The Supreme Court's ruling in an obscure Wyoming land dispute Monday could result in the loss of thousands of miles of bicycle trails or cost the government millions of dollars in compensation. The justices ruled 8-1 that government easements used for railroad beds over public and private land in the West expired once the railroads went out of business, and the land must revert to its owners.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said the case was decided based on an 1875 act of Congress and a 1942 Supreme Court decision involving Great Northern Railway. That ruling confirmed that the government merely had received easements without any long-term land rights, he said. The establishment in 1983 of the federal ‘rails to trails’ program didn't change the court's interpretation for easements that expired earlier. ‘We're going to stick with that today,’ Roberts said from the bench.

The decision could jeopardize the ‘rails to trails’ program, responsible for creating more than 1,400 bike and nature trails, many of them built along railroad rights-of-way.”

~Writes Richard Wolfe of USA Today

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Bedford Weaving drops lawsuit to block SML water project

Bedford County:

“A Bedford business is withdrawing a lawsuit filed last month seeking to halt construction on a massive project to pipe water from Smith Mountain Lake to Bedford and Forest. Bedford Weaving filed an injunction Jan. 7 against the Bedford Regional Water Authority in the county’s Circuit Court. The injunction claimed the entity’s creation as a merged system of the city of Bedford’s water and sewer department and Bedford County Public Service Authority did not properly specify the project as called for in the Virginia Water and Waste Act.

Kevin Mottley, a Richmond attorney representing Bedford Weaving, filed a motion for a non-suit Friday. When reached Monday, he did not address the reason for dismissal or comment further. ‘We’re dropping the suit,’ Mottley said. ‘It is what it is.’ Bedford Weaving, a company with 115 employees, claimed in the suit the project would increase rates and provide treated water from Smith Mountain Lake that could have ‘significantly greater hardness,’ leading to operational problems. The company was a customer for years of the former city and was folded into the BRWA customer base when the city reverted to a town last year.

Sam Darby, attorney for the authority, argued in a Jan. 24 response seeking to dismiss the case that the authority is granted ‘broad powers’ in undertaking projects beyond those specified in articles of incorporation and added the Smith Mountain Lake plan would not cause ‘irreparable harm’ to the company. Megan Rapp, authority spokeswoman, said Monday the non-suit motion does not come as a surprise. She said BRWA Chairman Elmer Hodge and another board member had met recently with Bedford Weaving leaders to alleviate concerns.”

~ Writes Justin Faulconer of The (Lynchburg) News & Advance

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