33.1-89 - Power to acquire lands, etc., by purchase, gift or eminent domain; conveyance to municipality after acquisition; property owners to be informed and briefed.
§ 33.1-89. Power to acquire lands, etc., by purchase, gift or eminent domain;conveyance to municipality after acquisition; property owners to be informedand briefed.
A. The Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner is hereby vested with thepower to acquire by purchase, gift, or power of eminent domain such lands,structures, rights-of-way, franchises, easements and other interest in lands,including lands under water and riparian rights, of any person, association,partnership, corporation, or municipality or political subdivision, deemed tobe necessary for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, maintenanceand repair of the public highways of the Commonwealth and for these purposesand all other purposes incidental thereto may condemn property in fee simpleand rights-of-way of such width and on such routes and grades and locationsas the Commissioner may deem requisite and suitable, including locations forpermanent, temporary, continuous, periodical or future use, and rights oreasements incidental thereto and lands, quarries, and locations, with rightsof ingress and egress, containing gravel, clay, sand, stone, rock, timber andany other road materials deemed useful or necessary in carrying out thepurposes aforesaid. For the purpose of this article "public highway" meanshighway, road and street; and when applicable, the term "public highway"also includes bridge, ferry, causeway, landing and wharf.
B. The Commissioner is authorized to exercise the above power withinmunicipalities on projects which are constructed with state or federalparticipation, if requested by the municipality concerned. Whenever theCommissioner has acquired property pursuant to a request of the municipality,he shall convey the title so acquired to the municipality, except thatrights-of-way or easements acquired for the relocation of a railroad, publicutility company, public service corporation or company, another politicalsubdivision, or cable television company in connection with said projectsshall be conveyed to that entity in accordance with § 33.1-96. The authorityfor such conveyance shall apply to acquisitions made by the Commissionerpursuant to previous requests as well as any subsequent request.
C. Any offer by the Commissioner to a property owner with respect to paymentof compensation for the prospective taking of property and damage to propertynot taken incident to the purposes of this section shall separately state (i)the property to be taken and the amount of compensation offered therefor and(ii) the nature of the prospective damage or damages and the amount ofcompensation offered for each such prospective damage. The amount of theoffer shall not be less than the amount of the approved appraisal of the fairmarket value of such property, in accordance with the provisions of §25.1-417. Any such appraisal used by the Commissioner as the basis for anoffer shall be prepared by a real estate appraiser licensed in accordancewith Chapter 20.1 (§ 54.1-2009 et seq.) of Title 54.1.
D. The Commissioner shall also provide to a property owner a copy of anyreport of status of title prepared in connection with such acquisition, ifprepared pursuant to subsection D of § 25.1-204.
E. In negotiating with a property owner with respect to payment forprospective damage to property not taken incident to the purposes of thissection, the Commissioner shall ensure that such property owner or hisauthorized representative is properly informed as to the type and amount offoreseeable damage and/or enhancement. Adequate briefing includes: (i) thegiving of plats and profiles of the project, showing cuts and fills, togetherwith elevations and grades; (ii) explanation, in lay terms, of all proposedchanges in profile, elevation and grade of the highway and entrances,including the elevations of proposed pavement and shoulders, both center andedges, with relation to the present pavement, and approximate grade ofentrances to the property.
F. Any option or deed executed by the property owner shall contain astatement that the plans as they affect his property have been fullyexplained. However, the requirements of this section with respect toinformation and briefing and the acknowledgment thereof in options and deedsshall in no way be construed to affect the validity of any conveyance or tocreate any right to compensation or to limit the Commissioner's authority toreasonably control the use of public highways so as to promote the publichealth, safety and welfare.
G. For the purposes of this article, "owner" means any person owning land,buildings, structures or improvements upon land where such ownership is ofrecord in the land records of the clerk's office of the circuit court of thecity or county where the property is located. Owner shall not includetrustees or beneficiaries under a deed of trust, any person with a securityinterest in the property, or any person with a judgment or lien against theproperty. In proceedings instituted by the Commonwealth TransportationCommissioner under Title 25.1 or this title, owner also includes personsowning structures or improvements for which an outdoor advertising permit hasbeen issued by the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner pursuant to §33.1-360. This definition of owner shall not alter in any way the valuationof such land, buildings, structures or improvements under existing law.
(Code 1950, § 33-57; 1956, c. 152; 1966, c. 65; 1968, c. 700; 1970, c. 322;1976, c. 430; 1993, c. 67; 1999, c. 88; 2000, c. 1029; 2002, c. 878; 2003, c.940.)