Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County v. Robertson, 266 Va. 525

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia reviewed the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' denial of a landowner's application for a deviation from a 200-foot setback requirement near the Dulles Airport Access Road. The Court held that evidence concerning projected future noise levels made the denial fairly debatable and therefore not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. It reversed the circuit court's judgment and entered final judgment for the defendants, also holding that the circuit court improperly decided issues not pleaded or claimed.

Holdings

1. The Board's denial was not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable because evidence supporting the denial made the issue of reasonableness fairly debatable.
2. The circuit court erred by deciding that the ordinance's lot exception did not apply to Robertson's property because Robertson had not pleaded or claimed that issue and had stipulated that he could build one single-family home by right.
3. The circuit court erred to the extent it decided that the Board's application of the ordinance constituted impermissible piecemeal downzoning because Robertson had not pleaded or claimed that theory.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Board's denial of Robertson's application for a deviation from the 200-foot setback requirement was arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.
2. Whether the evidence of future noise levels and related traffic projections was sufficient to make the reasonableness of the Board's denial fairly debatable.
3. Whether the circuit court erred by deciding that the ordinance's lot exception did not apply to Robertson's property when that issue had not been pleaded or claimed.
4. Whether the circuit court erred by determining that the Board's application of the ordinance constituted impermissible piecemeal downzoning when Robertson had not asserted that claim.

Disposition

reversed