Old Dominion Land Co v. Warwick County
| Decision Date | 09 January 1939 |
| Citation | 200 S.E. 619 |
| Parties | OLD DOMINION LAND CO. v. WARWICK COUNTY. |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
Error to Circuit Court, Warwick County; Frank Armistead, Judge.
The Old Dominion Land Company was convicted on a warrant issued by the health officer of the County of Warwick for violating two county ordinances by connecting residences constructed by such company with a sewer line owned thereby, and emptying raw or untreated sewage into adjacent tidal waters of the James River, and the company brings error. Reversed, and warrant dismissed.
Argued before CAMPBELL, C. J., and HOLT, HUDGINS, GREGORY, BROWNING, and EGGLESTON, J J.
Lett, Murray & Ford, of Newport News, for plaintiff in error.
C. H. Sheild, Jr., of Yorktown, for defendant in error.
The question here presented is the validity of two ordinances enacted by the board of supervisors of Warwick county, the effect of which was to prohibit the Old Dominion Land Company from connecting several of its recently constructed residences in said county with a sewer line owned by the company and emptying raw or untreated sewage into the adjacent tidal waters of the James river.
The case was tried in the court below on an agreed statement of facts which discloses the following pertinent matters:
About fifty years ago the Old Dominion Land Company, a Virginia corporation, acquired a large tract of land in Warwick county, lying between the present northern corporate limits of the city of Newport News and the present southern corporate limits of Hilton Village. This property is bounded on the west by the James river, and on the east by the State Highway leading from Newport News to Richmond.
From time to time portions of this property have been subdivided into residential lots and sold. That portion of the land just north of the corporate limits of Newport News, and extending northwardly from 64th street to 68th street, was first developed. All of the lots in this subdivision have been sold and most of them are now occupied by residences. The sewer system accommodating this subdivision connects with the sewer line of the city of Newport News, which empties its untreated or raw sewage into the James river at 58th street, within the corporate limits of the city.
The property immediately north of the subdivision just mentioned was during the World War leased to the United States Government, and was occupied by a large camp in which several thousand troopswere quartered at a time. For the use of the camp the government constructed a sewer system of its own. This consisted of a septic tank in which some of the sewage was treated, and also a cast iron pipe through which raw or untreated sewage passed around the septic tank and emptied directly into the James river. When the government vacated the land both the septic tank and the by-pass pipe remained.
In 1930 the Old Dominion Land Company began to develop a portion of the property on which the camp had been located. Between 1930 and 1936 seven residences were constructed there and these were connected with the sewer system con structed by the government. Being out of repair the septic tank is not in operation and consequently the raw and untreated sewage from these houses empties directly into the James river at a point within the limits of Warwick county.
In 1936 the Old Dominion Land Company began the construction of twelve new residences on the property. It was contemplated that the sewer systems serving these houses would likewise be connected with the sewer line constructed by the government and emptying into the river. The county health officer declined to approve the connection of these houses with that sewer system, because, in the meantime, the board of supervisors had enacted two ordinances affecting the matter.
The first was an ordinance passed on March 5, 1936, in which it was provided that plans and specifications for all sewage disposal systems in the county must be approved by the county health or sanitation officer. It was further provided: "Satisfactory flush type of water closet may be used if connected with an approved sewer system or an approved septic tank system, provided this meets with the approval of the Health Officer or the Sanitation Officer of Warwick county." The ordinance carried a penalty of a fine for violation of its provisions.
The second was a resolution passed on October 6, 1936, directing the county health or sanitation officer not to approve "any sewerage system, nor any plans and specifications of any sewage system in Warwick County providing for discharging its sewage, in Warwick County, into James River nor any of its tributaries; * * * unless such sewage has been discharged into and duly treated in a disposal plant which plant and treatment have been approved by the Board of Health of the said County, and its Health and Sanitation Officers."
Notwithstanding the lack of approval by the county health or sanitation officer, the Old Dominion Land Company proceeded to connect these recenty constructed houses with the sewer line emptying into the river.
Upon a warrant issued by the health officer the Land Company was convicted of violating the ordinances and was fined by the trial justice. The same result followed on its appeal to the circuit court.
It is important to bear in mind that there is no evidence or claim that any nuisance or injury to the health of the inhabitants of the county was created or threatened by the acts of the defendant company.
The contention of the Old Dominion Land Company is that, since the acts complained of do not constitute a nuisance or are not injurious to the health of the community, the county board of supervisors has no power or authority to pass laws prohibiting an owner of propperty, bordering on tidal waters, from emptying its sewage into such waters, but that the control of such matters is exclusively within the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Moore v. Hampton Roads Sanitation Dist. Com'n
...521, 164 S.E. 689 (1932); DuPont Rayon Co., Inc. v. Richmond Industries, Inc., 85 F.2d 981 (4 Cir. 1936); Old Dominion Land Co. v. Warwick County, 172 Va. 160, 200 S.E. 619 (1939). In Darling, the Supreme Court, speaking through Justice Holmes, agreed with the Virginia court that "when land......
-
Lovejoy v. Town Of Darien.
...conditions, but are confined to the existence in the waters flowing over them of bacteria * * *.’ See Old Dominion Land Co. v. Warwick County, 172 Va. 160, 166, 200 S.E. 619; Du Pont Rayon Co. v. Richmond Industries, 4 Cir., 85 F.2d 981. The doctrine is not universally accepted. Foster v. W......
-
G. L. Webster Co. v. Steelman
...mark are not injured." This court has recently reaffirmed the doctrine in each of the above cases in Old Dominion Land Co. County of Warwick, ante, page 160, 200 S.E. 619, handed down on January 9, In Commonwealth City of Newport News, supra, an injunction was denied the Commonwealth, becau......
-
G. L. Webster Co. Inc v. Steelman
...high-water mark are not injured." This court has recently reaffirmed the doctrine in each of the above cases in Old Dominion Land Co. v. County of Warwick, Va., 200 S.E. 619, handed down on January 9, 1939. In Commonwealth v. City of Newport News, supra, an injunction was denied the Commonw......