State’s high court should put VDOT in its place on unfair property appraisals

Coercive tactics by the Virginia Department of Transportation will get a full airing next year by the state’s high court justices. The result could redefine the relationship between property owners and VDOT.

So far, the equation has been heavily tilted in favor of the commonwealth.

The Supreme Court of Virginia will hear the appeal of James and Janet Ramsey in their ongoing dispute with the Virginia Department of Transportation. The Virginia Beach couple contends VDOT, in an eminent domain case, underpaid for land it seized for on- and off-ramps between Interstate 264 and London Bridge Road.

Not only that: The state came back with a drastically lower second appraisal when the Ramseys decided the first one wasn’t enough. Nor could their lawyer cite the original appraisal to jurors when the Ramseys went to court.