Hunter v. Norfolk Redevelopment & Housing Authority

• Citation: 195 Va. 326,78 S.E.2d 893
• Parties: ROBERT W. HUNTER AND EMILY BOWIE HUNTER v. NORFOLK REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY AND THE CITY OF NORFOLK, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
• Decision Date: 30 November 1953
• Court: Supreme Court of Virginia

Page 893

78 S.E.2d 893

195 Va. 326

ROBERT W. HUNTER AND EMILY BOWIE HUNTER v. NORFOLK REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY AND THE CITY OF NORFOLK, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION.

Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia

November 30, 1953.

Jordan A. Pugh, III, for the plaintiffs in error.

Baird, White & Lanning, Jonathan W. Old, Jr., and Leighton P. Roper, for the defendants in error.

JUDGE: EGGLESTON

EGGLESTON, J., delivered the opinion of the court.

Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, hereinafter referred to as the Authority, filed its petition in the court below to condemn a lot of land with the buildings thereon numbered 300-306 Brambleton avenue, in the city of Norfolk, owned by Robert W. Hunter and Emily Bowie Hunter, hereinafter called the condemnees, and occupied by a number of tenants. The petition alleged that the property was needed in order to carry out a slum clearance and redevelopment plan which had been duly approved by the Norfolk city council and authorized by the Housing Authorities Law, as embraced in Code, §§ 36-1 to 36-55, both inclusive.

In their pleadings the condemnees challenged the constitutionality of the statutes under which the Authority was purporting to proceed. Moreover, they alleged that the Authority had not been legally constituted and that the redevelopment project had not been approved by the local authorities in the manner required by law. The City of Norfolk intervened to protect its interest in the matter.

The lower court overruled these legal objections raised by the condemnees, appointed commissioners, and confirmed their award of $14,000 for the property. To review the final judgment awarding to the Authority the fee simple title to and possession of the property the present writ of error was awarded. No question is raised as to the sufficiency of the award and we are concerned only with the legal questions raised by the condemnees in the lower court and renewed on this appeal.

The 'Housing Authorities Law,' as embraced in Code, §§ 36-1 to 36-55, is a codification of the Housing Act of 1938. Acts 1938, ch. 310, p. 446, as amended by Acts 1942, ch. 224, p. 316; Acts 1946, ch. 185, p. 276; Acts 1947, Ex. Sess., ch. 72, p. 138.

The declared purpose of the Housing Act of 1938, as defined in section 2 (Code, § 36-2), is to eradicate slum areas (defined in section 3) and provide 'safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations for persons of low income. ' As a means of accomplishing this end, under section 4, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth, 'known as the 'housing authority' of the city or county,' is created in each city and county, with the proviso that it shall not transact any business or exercise its powers unless or until the governing body of the city or county, by appropriate resolution, shall declare that there is a need for such an authority to function in such city or county. ¹

After the governing body of the city has adopted a resolution declaring the need for an authority to function, the mayor is empowered by section 5 of the Act to appoint five persons as commissioners of the authority. Code, § 36-11.

Under section 12 of the Act an authority is given the right to acquire real property necessary for its purposes by eminent domain. Code, § 36-27.

Section 20 of the Act empowers the authority to borrow money or accept contributions or other financial assistance from the Federal Government for or in aid of any housing project. Code, § 36-26.

An authority is given, under section 8, among others, the power 'to lease or rent any dwellings, houses, accommodations, lands, buildings, * * * embraced in any housing project and * * * to sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge or dispose of any real or personal property or any interest therein. ' Code, § 36-19.

The Acts of 1946, ch. 185, p. 276, made important amendments to the 1938 Housing Act. Section 4 was amended, as indicated in the title to the chapter, to provide that the political subdivisions which had been created and denominated 'the 'housing authority' of the city or county,' should be known as the 'Redevelopment and Housing Authority.' Code, § 36-4. ²

The 1946 Act further added to the 1938 Act, among others, the sections with which we are immediately concerned. These may be summarized as follows:

Section 8-a is a finding and declaration '(a) that there exist in many communities within this Commonwealth blighted areas (as herein defined) which impair economic values and tax revenues, cause an increase in and spread of disease and crime, and constitute a menace to the health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of the Commonwealth; (b) that the clearance, replanning, rehabilitation and reconstruction of such blighted areas and the sale or lease of land within such areas for redevelopment in accordance with locally approved redevelopment plans are necessary for the public welfare and are public uses and public purposes for which public money may be spent and private property acquired by purchase or the power of eminent domain, and are governmental functions of grave concern to the Commonwealth; * * *. ' Code, § 36-48.

Section 8-b defines undertakings constituting redevelopment projects which 'any authority now or hereafter established' is empowered to carry out. Among these are:

'(1) To acquire blighted or deteriorated areas, which are hereby defined as areas (including slum areas) with buildings or improvements which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement of design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community;

* * *

'(4) To clear any areas acquired and install, construct, or reconstruct streets, utilities, and site improvements essential to the preparation of sites for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan;

'(5) To make land so acquired available to private enterprise or public agencies (including sale, leasing, or retention by the authority itself) in accordance with the redevelopment plan; or

'(6) To accomplish any combination of the foregoing to carry out a redevelopment plan. ' Code, § 36-49.

Under section 8-c, 'In undertaking redevelopment projects an authority shall have all the rights, powers, privileges, and immunities that such authority has in connection with undertaking slum clearance and housing projects (including, * * * the power * * * to acquire real property by eminent domain or purchase, * * *)'. Code, § 36-50.

Section 8-d provides:

'An authority shall not initiate any redevelopment project under this law until the governing body * * * of each city or town or county (hereinafter called 'municipalities') in which any of the area to be covered by said project is situated, has approved a plan (herein called the 'redevelopment plan') which provides an outline for the development or redevelopment of said area and is sufficiently complete (1) to indicate its relationship to definite local objectives as to appropriate land uses and improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities and other public improvements; (2) to indicate proposed land uses and building requirements in the area; (3) to indicate the land in the area to be made available to private enterprise for redevelopment and that land which is to be made available to public enterprise for redevelopment; and (4) to indicate the method for the temporary relocation of persons living in such areas; and also the method for providing (unless already available) decent, safe and sanitary dwellings in the locality substantially equal in number to the number of substandard dwellings to be cleared from said area, at rents within the financial reach of the income groups displaced from such substandard dwellings. Such municipalities are hereby authorized to approve redevelopment plans through their governing body or agency designated for that purpose. ' Code, § 36-51.

Under section 8-e any county, city or town is given the same rights and powers to cooperate with and assist authorities with respect to redevelopment projects that such county, city or town has pursuant to sections 23 and 24, and any other provision of the Housing Authorities Law, for the purpose of assisting the development or administration of slum clearance and housing projects. Code, § 36-52.

Under section 8-f, 'An authority may make land in a redevelopment project available for use by private enterprise or public agencies in accordance with the redevelopment plan. Such land may be made available at its fair value, which represents the value (whether expressed in terms of rental or capital price) at which the authority determines such land should be made available in order that it may be developed or redeveloped for the purposes specified in such plan.

'To assure that land acquired in a redevelopment project is used in accordance with the redevelopment plan, an authority, upon the sale or lease of such land, shall obligate purchasers or lessees: (1) to use the land for the purpose designated in the redevelopment plan; (2) to begin the building of their improvements within a period of time which the authority fixes as reasonable; and (3) to comply with such other conditions as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Any such obligations by the purchaser shall be covenants and conditions running with the land where the authority so stipulates. ' Code, § 36-53.

On July 30, 1940, pursuant to section 4 of the 1938 Act, the Norfolk city council adopted a resolution declaring that there was a 'need for a Housing Authority to function in said city,' notifying the mayor thereof, and directing him to appoint the necessary commissioners. The resolution further provided that the authority should be known as the 'Housing Authority of the City...