Attorneys with the City of Charlottesville have filed a new motion in Charlottesville Circuit Court asking Judge Claude Worrell to reconsider a ruling made from the bench on April 16 that allows a lawsuit against the city’s zoning code to proceed.
The legal team representing Charlottesville City Council has argued that a group of Charlottesville property owners do not have the right to use the Dillon Rule to argue that the zoning code should be thrown out. The Dillon Rule is a legal principle that establishes that localities cannot take actions that the General Assembly has not specifically authorized.
The motion to reconsider cites an April 22 ruling by the Court of Appeals of Virginia that involves the Surry County Board of Supervisors and the approval of a conditional use permit for a methane gas conditional facility. A nearby property owner filed a suit arguing notice had been insufficient and the Court of Appeals sided with Surry County. (read Drewry v. Board of Supervisors of Surry County)
A central argument for the plaintiffs is that the city failed to comply with a section of state code that governs “coordination of state and local transportation planning.”
“Like the plaintiff in Drewry who was not permitted to assert the rights of third parties, the Plaintiffs here are not permitted to assert VDOT’s right to enforce the agency’s statutory and regulatory scheme,” reads the motion. (view the motion on cvillepedia)
Attorney for the plaintiffs, Mike Derdeyn, filed a motion to oppose the city’s new request.
“The Virginia Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that a litigant has the right to assert that a locality’s adoption of a zoning ordinance is void under Dillon’s Rule where the local governing body has failed to comply with the General Assembly’s statutory directives for adopting such an ordinance,” reads the counter-motion. (read this motion on cvillepedia)
Before these motions were filed, the next step was to have been a motion seeking summary judgment. Hearings have not yet been scheduled.
What is summary judgement? Learn along with me!
- “A summary judgment is a judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party without a full trial,” reads the definition from the the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
- Get much more detailed information from FindLaw.
- Much more information on Wikipedia.
Before you go: This story originally went out in the May 5, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Take a look here! For more information, please visit this page which is in the process of being uploaded!
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