33.1-152 - Appeal to circuit court.
§ 33.1-152. Appeal to circuit court.
Any one or more of the landowners whose property abuts on the road, landing,or crossing proposed to be abandoned or, if only a section of a road,landing, or crossing is proposed to be abandoned, whose property abuts onsuch section of the road, landing, or crossing and who petitioned for apublic hearing under § 33.1-151, or the Commonwealth TransportationCommissioner, or, if a public landing is involved, the Director of Game andInland Fisheries, may within thirty days from the entry of the order by thegoverning body, but not afterwards, appeal from the order to the circuitcourt of the county in which the section of road, public landing, or thecrossing sought to be abandoned is located. Where the governing body fails toenter an order pursuant to § 33.1-151, such person or persons named in thissection shall within thirty days from such nonentry, but not afterwards, havea right of appeal to the appropriate circuit court. Such appeals shall be bypetition filed in the clerk's office of such court, setting out the orderappealed from or the cause appealed from where no order was entered and thegrounds of such appeal. Upon the filing of such petition, the clerk of thecircuit court shall docket the appeal, giving it a preferred status, and ifthe appeal be by any of the landowners who filed a petition with thegoverning body for a public hearing shall have notice of such appeal servedupon each member of the governing body of the county pursuant to § 8.01-300and either the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner or the Director ofGame and Inland Fisheries and if the appeal be by either, notice thereofshall be served upon the governing body of the county and landowners whofiled petition with the governing body for a public hearing. No such appealshall be tried by the court within ten days after notice is given, ashereinabove provided, unless such notice be waived. The circuit court shalldecide the appeal based upon the record and upon such other evidence as maybe presented by the parties. Upon the hearing of the appeal, the court shallascertain and by its order determine whether adequate justification existsfor the decision of the governing body that public necessity exists for thecontinuance of the section of road, public landing, or the crossing as apublic road, public landing, or crossing, or that the welfare of the publicwill be served best by abandoning the section of the road, public landing, orthe said crossing as a public road or crossing and shall enter its orderaccordingly.
Upon any such appeal, if it shall appear to the court that by the abandonmentof such section of road, public landing, or such crossing as a public road,public landing, or crossing any party to such appeal would be deprived ofaccess to a public road, the court may cause the railway company and thegoverning body, or either, to be made parties to the proceedings, if notalready parties, and may enter such orders as seem to it just and proper forkeeping open such section of road, public landing, or such crossing for thebenefit of such party or parties as would by such abandonment be deprived ofaccess to a public road.
(Code 1950, § 33-76.9; 1950, p. 732; 1970, c. 322; 1978, c. 187; 1981, c.323; 1990, c. 190.)