The Shadow
ROANOKE (AP) – A judge in Roanoke is allowing the city to condemn private property to make room for a new medical complex.
Circuit Court Judge William Broadhurst ruled that the move by the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority does not violate Virginia’s eminent domain laws.
The ruling clears the way for the seizure of property for the Riverside Center, a business park and medical school. It is being constructed on the site that includes a small flooring business called Surfaces.
Stephanie Burkholder, who owns the property with her husband, Jay, plans to appeal the ruling.
Their attorney, Joe Waldo, said he believes the case could become a test of changes that Virginia made in response to a controversial 2005 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that expanded the use of condemnation.
