Serving as the City of Salem Attorneys, Chris Dadak and Jim Guynn recently obtained a favorable ruling for the City regarding a rezoning application. HopeTree Family Services had applied to the Salem City Council to rezone a parcel of land from a residential single family to a planned unit district to allow more flexibility in developing the parcel.  The development contemplated a residential and limited mixed-use development around an existing core of historic buildings, while maintaining at least thirty-five percent of the property’s natural open space.  The development contemplated residential development that would include multi-family housing, townhome style housing, and smaller to larger single family homes.  The application described it as a “neighborhood” form of development.

A complaint was soon filed challenging the rezoning approval. The plaintiff argued that the City Council violated city code in its procedure, relied on a faulty traffic study, and that the City Council’s decision was arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.

The legislative record totaled nearly 5,000 pages.  After reviewing the legislative record and briefs submitted by the parties, the Court ruled in favor of the defendants and dismissed all claims against the City and HopeTree with prejudice.​

The plaintiff has since appealed to the Virginia Court of Appeals.  Chris and Jim look forward to defending the City and the trial court’s correct ruling on appeal.