Category Archives: Property rights

Virginia’s History of Displacemment


An article in the Washington Post on October 11, 2019, asks, Will Virginians be able to resist the Atlantic Coast Pipeline? It points out that backers of the ACP see the Supreme Court’s consideration of the ACP’s effort to cross the Appalachian Trail as one of getting government regulations out of the way of a private industry (supposedly) operating for the public good.

“But for people in central Virginia, the push for a pipeline is a story of government interference, part of a century of struggle between government authorities and vulnerable populations that have been displaced from the land. …. Urban and rural communities alike have their own collective memories of the encroachment of government-backed industry. Those memories are reflected in the diverse coalition that has come together to fight the pipeline.”

The article describes how “One of the largest land seizures in the history of the state took place in the same forest that Dominion now contests” when Virginia, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, used eminent domain to acquire 190,000 acres in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains, seizing or condemning the homes and farms of about 465 families, removing 2,000 people from land they had tended for generations. Virginia then donated the land to the federal government for Shenandoah National Park.

In 1964, under the guise of “slum-cleansing,” the city of Charlottesville razed Vinegar Hill, home to a thriving community of African American residents and black-owned businesses, Charlottesville’s center of black economic life and culture. The city destroyed 29 businesses and forced 500 residents into public housing – and then for 20 years the land sat unused.

And now in rural Buckingham County, the ACP’s compressor station threatens Union Hill, a historically black community. Residents there have spoken out against the pipeline – as have residents in Nelson County whose planned and established businesses would also be destroyed by the ACP.

The unusual coalition fighting the pipeline reveals “a surprising alignment of interests across traditional social, racial, economic and political boundaries. In Buckingham, Va., Baptists and yogis have joined to fight the pipeline. That unusual coalition is up against powerful forces: the Trump administration, a big energy company and a Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices. But for more than a century, the people of central Virginia have been battling the government over their right to control their land, farms, parks and city neighborhoods. Whatever happens in the Supreme Court this term, they’ll keep fighting.”

Quick Take


On Friday, November 16th, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Dominion filed for Quick Take in the US Western District of Virginia Federal Court in Lynchburg. Quick Take takes away the constitutional right to due process for every defendant. It also usurps Congressional authority to make and change laws. Call your Senator and Congressional Representative and tell them to issue a statement telling the courts to stand down!

The video is a crash course explanation of Quick Take and Eminent Domain as it relates to gas pipelines and to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline specifically. Richard Averitt, Nelson County landowner, explains Quick Take in lay terms.

Dominion Holiday Cheer – Not!


Dominion has just filed petitions for “quick take” against at least 21 Nelson landowners, who will now have to deal with making court filings and appearances during the holidays. Petitions were filed in the US Western District of Virginia Federal Court in Lynchburg.

“Quick take” is a formal process of the exercise of eminent domain in which the government (or in this case, a private for-profit company masquerading as a “public” utility) takes possession BEFORE any court ruling on compensation. In other words, Dominion wants access to begin work on these landowners’ properties BEFORE paying the landowners any money, and BEFORE all permits are in place to allow the ACP to begin construction. Some of the 21 landowners were completely unaware that Dominion had filed against them until the Friends of Nelson Landowner Liaison called them with the information. And some landowners had never even been served with notice of the ORIGINAL condemnation lawsuit, even though it had been filed with the court over a month ago!

Dominion loves filing lawsuits as holiday gifts. In the week before Christmas 2014 they began suing landowners who had refused permission for Dominion to survey their property. Dominion filed lawsuits against 27 Augusta County residents and 20 in Nelson County, requesting the court’s permission to enter the properties and survey potential Atlantic Coast Pipeline routes. Reporting on the filings, the Richmond Times Dispatch quoted Dominion officials, who, by the end of December 2014, expected “to file suit against 56 landowners in Augusta and 122 in Nelson. The court would then start serving notices during the first week of January, and those property owners would have three weeks to answer the complaint. A court date would then be set for hearings in each case.”

It is worth noting that a federal court in North Carolina has issued a stay against ACP’s attempt to acquire rights to a NC property by eminent domain, citing the fact that there are pending legal challenges to the ACP that could result in reexaminiation of the project (see story below). Further, last week in New York a state court ruled that a different pipeline company could not use eminent domain proceedings to cross a landowner’s property because the NY State Water Control had denied the permit for the project.

End of the Line: Episode 18, Hellbender


Listen to the new End of the Line podcast, Episode 18, Hellbender. In this episode we hear folks at the “Hellbender Autonomous Zone” talk about the problems around private property and notions of ownership, and how we use collective resistance to fight not just pipelines but the systems that allow for exploitation and extraction that have been allowed to destroy communities in the North America for hundreds of years. Original air date: 6/1/18

Use the links in the sidebar to the right to listen to this and earlier End of the Line podcasts.

Little Pink House: Special Showing

WHERE: The Regal Stonefield, 1954 Swanson Dr, Charlottesville
WHEN: Thursday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m.
TICKETS: Tickets are $12 general admission, and proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Friends of Nelson. You must buy your tickets online; no tickets will be sold at the door. Purchase tickets here: https://www.tugg.com/events/little-pink-house-dauw

Based on a true story, a small-town paramedic named Susette Kelo leaves a bad marriage, and starts over in a new town. She buys a rundown cottage with a gorgeous water view. She fixes it up and paints it pink. Then she discovers powerful politicians want to bulldoze her blue-collar neighborhood for the benefit of a multi-billion dollar corporation. With the help of a young lawyer named Scott Bullock, Susette emerges as the reluctant leader of her neighbors in an epic battle that goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, inspires a nation, and helps millions of Americans protect their homes.

In 2005, the nation was shocked by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kelo vs. New London. In the judgment, the court said that a local government could forcibly seize people’s homes, through eminent domain, in order to transfer the property to a major corporation for development. The response was immediate. Across the country, states passed legislation and amended constitutions to curtail the power of eminent domain. After all, when people buy homes from places like Colorado Springs CO real estate agents they are investing in their future and happiness. If the local government could force them out for the benefit of a corporation then who knows the damage it would have on the community or even the housing market.

Thankfully, in 2012, the people of Virginia spoke out overwhelmingly when more than 2.6 million citizens (74.45% of votes cast) approved amending the state constitution to prohibit eminent domain from being invoked if the “primary use is for private gain, private benefit, private enterprise, increasing jobs, increasing tax revenue or economic development.”

Plaintiff Susette Kelo’s fight has been dramatized in this new film, Little Pink House, starring the brilliant, Oscar-nominated actress Catherine Keener as Kelo.

The film is being distributed in an unorthodox manner. Local people sign up to bring it to their town and, if enough tickets are sold, a screening proceeds at a selected local theater. We are pleased to announce that Doug Hornig has secured a showing of the film in Charlottesville:

WHERE: The Regal Stonefield, 1954 Swanson Dr, Charlottesville
WHEN: Thursday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m.
TICKETS: Tickets are $12 general admission, and proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Friends of Nelson. You must buy your tickets online; no tickets will be sold at the door. Purchase tickets here: https://www.tugg.com/events/little-pink-house-dauw

Eminent domain is a hot button topic here in central Virginia, as Dominion intends to use it to seize private property for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Many of us have been fighting them for several years now, and continue to do so.

We hope to use this event to help educate the public about the importance of fighting eminent domain abuse. Following the film, there will be a panel discussion and Q&A featuring: John Kramer – Institute for Justice, Chuck Lollar – Attorney specializing in eminent domain cases, Richard Averitt – Property owner impacted by Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Joyce Burton – Board member, Friends of Nelson, a nonprofit dedicated to stopping this unnecessary pipeline.

Join us – and bring family, friends, and neighbors! We’ll see you there!