Board of Supervisors of the County of Albemarle v. Route 29, LLC

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia considered whether Albemarle County could enforce a conditional transit proffer against the owner of rezoned property when the public transportation service allegedly lacked an essential nexus and rough proportionality to the project's impacts. The Court held that the owner stated a valid unconstitutional-conditions claim under the Takings Clause, notwithstanding that the proffer was voluntary, and that the circuit court properly overruled the County's demurrer. The Court also upheld the denial of the County's motion to strike because the evidence supported the owner's challenge to enforcement of the proffer.

Holdings

1. A land-use conditional proffer, including a cash payment, must bear an essential nexus to and be roughly proportional to the impacts of the development it is imposed to address. A complaint sufficiently states a claim when it alleges that the proffer, as applied, lacks that nexus and proportionality, even when the proffer was voluntarily accepted.
2. The circuit court properly denied the motion to strike because the evidence was sufficient to establish that the commuter route lacked an essential nexus to, and was not roughly proportional to, the impacts of the project.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Route 29's complaint stated a cause of action by alleging that enforcement of the conditional transit proffer, as applied, was an unconstitutional condition lacking an essential nexus and rough proportionality to the impacts of the rezoned development.
2. Whether the circuit court erred in denying the County's motion to strike when the parties stipulated that the commuter route was public transportation and Route 29 had not made the demanded payments.

Disposition

affirmed