After questioning the constitutionality of a May 19 ruling that transferred an easement of city land to VDOT for the Meadowcreek Parkway, plaintiffs in the case—five residents, the North Downtown Residents Association and the Coalition to Preserve McIntire Park—attended another hearing June 26 in which Judge Jay Swett ruled the transfer legal and legitimate.
"…Under the facts of this case, a three-fourths vote of the Charlottesville City Council is not required to convey a road construction easement to the Commonwealth of Virginia," Swett stated. "This is not the type of conveyance contemplated by the framers of the Constitution in adopting Section 125 of the 1902 Virginia Constitution or Section 9 of Article VII of the Revised Coastitution adopted in 1972."
Opponents of the ruling released a statement yesterday detailing their consideration of an appeal. "We continue to believe that the conveyance of public land from the City of Charlottesville to VDOT was a violation of Article VII, section 9 of the Virginia Constitution," the release states. "We recognize that there is a better opportunity to stop the parkway in federal court."
Read more about the Meadowcreek Parkway here, including C-VILLE’s most recent story in this week’s issue.
Is this sign obsolete, now that the Meadowcreek Parkway seems to be truly on its way?
