Marsh v. Roanoke City

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed the dismissal of a petition challenging a Board of Zoning Appeals decision. The Court held that the petition improperly named Roanoke City rather than the Roanoke City Council, the locality's governing body, as required by Virginia Code § 15.2-2314. Because this defect constituted misjoinder rather than misnomer, the petition could not be amended under Virginia Code § 8.01-6.

Holdings

1. Under Virginia Code § 15.2-2314, the governing body of the locality is a necessary party that must be identified in the petition within the applicable thirty-day period. Failure to do so is a defect that, when timely raised, requires dismissal.
2. The references to Roanoke City and the City of Roanoke identified the City, not the City Council, and therefore were not a misnomer for the Council.
3. Virginia Code § 8.01-6 did not permit the proposed amendment because the petition involved misjoinder, not misnomer.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Oak Hill's failure to name the Roanoke City Council as a necessary party within thirty days of the Board of Zoning Appeals decision required dismissal of the petition for certiorari.
2. Whether references to Roanoke City or the City of Roanoke constituted a misnomer for the Roanoke City Council.
3. Whether Virginia Code § 8.01-6 permitted Oak Hill to amend the petition to add the Roanoke City Council and relate the amendment back to the original filing.

Disposition

affirmed