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1998 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 36-27 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 36-27. Eminent domain.
An authority shall have the right to acquire by the exercise of the power of
eminent domain any real property which may be necessary for the purposes of
such authority under this chapter after the adoption by it of a resolution
declaring that the acquisition of the real property described therein is
necessary for such purposes. An authority may exercise the power of eminent
domain in the manner provided in Chapter 1.1 (§ 25-46.1 et seq.) of Title
25. The court in commissioners before which condemnation
proceedings are pending conducted may hear evidence as to
the value of the property and may consider including but not
limited to the owner's appraisal and the effect that any pending
application for a zoning change, special use permit application or variance
application may have on the value of the property. The court may also
determine whether there has been unreasonable delay in the institution of the
proceedings after public announcement by the condemnor of a project which
necessitates acquisition by the condemnor of a designated land area consisting
of or including the land sought to be condemned. If the court determines that
such unreasonable delay has occurred, it shall instruct the commissioners in
such proceedings to allow any damages proved to their satisfaction by the
landowner or landowners to have been sustained to his or their land during and
because of such delay, in addition to and separately from the fair market value
thereof, but such damages shall not exceed the actual diminution if any in fair
market value of the land in substantially the same physical condition over the
period of the delay. This provision shall not apply to any such public
announcement made prior to July 1, 1960.
Prior to the adoption of any redevelopment plan pursuant to § 36-49 or any conservation plan pursuant to § 36-49.1, an authority shall send by certified mail, postage prepaid, to at least one of the owners of every parcel of property to be acquired pursuant to such plan a notice advising such owner that (i) the property owned by such owner is proposed to be acquired and (ii) such owner will have the right to appear in any condemnation proceeding instituted to acquire the property and present any defense which such owner may have to the taking. Such notice shall not be the basis for eligibility for relocation benefits. At the time it makes its price offer, the authority shall also provide to the property owner a certificate signed by a certified general real estate appraiser licensed in accordance with Chapter 20.1 (§ 54.1-2009 et seq.) of Title 54.1 setting forth the appraiser's opinion of the fair market value, together with two comparable property sales, if available, of the property to be acquired.
In all such cases the proceedings shall be according to the provisions of
such sections Chapter 1.1 (§ 25-46.1 et seq.) of Title 25,
so far as they can be applied to the same, the term "company" as used in
such sections chapter, and any officers of a "company"
referred to therein, to be construed as meaning the authority and the
commissioners thereof, respectively. Also, An authority may exercise
the power of eminent domain in the manner provided by any other applicable
statutory provisions for the exercise of the power of eminent domain. No real
property belonging to the city, the county, the Commonwealth or any other
political subdivision thereof may be acquired without its consent.