Mr Williamsburg, Revolutionary ideas on real estate!Hampton Roads Virginia

By John Tarley Esq.
Over the course of the past few years, homeowners in the Williamsburg development of Kingsmill on the James have become more vocal over the continued control by the community’s developer, Busch Properties, Inc. In May 2010, Kingsmill resident and William & Mary Law School professor Donald Tortorice filed a lawsuit against Busch Properties. On August 20, 2010, the Williamsburg/James City Circuit Court heard the demurrer filed by Busch Properties. The court granted the demurrer. Tortorice appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court. The Court declined to hear Tortorice’s appeal. Tortorice filed a petition for rehearing that the Court refused to hear by an order dated June 16, 2011. Tortorice fired one more shot, summarizing his arguments in an essay to the Virginia Gazette. If the issue is as clear as Tortorice writes, why didn’t any court grant the relief he requested?

The Kingsmill Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions (“Declaration”) provides three classes of membership. Busch Properties is the Class C member, and according to the Declaration, shall remain a Class C member until “it no longer desires to be a Class C member.”

The Declaration provides that the Class C member shall appoint six members to the Board of Directors, and the lot owners shall elect three members to the Board. This composition of the Board of Directors shall continue until the Class C membership expires. Therefore, Busch Properties maintains the majority of members on the Board of Directors.

Tortorice argued that the Virginia Code, as interpreted by the Virginia Attorney General in an unrelated case, provided support for the court to rule that the lot owners of Kingsmill should control the Board of Directors. He based his argument upon Va. Code Ann. § 55-509.2. That section, entitled “Documents to be provided by declarant upon transfer of control,” provides as follows:

Read the remainder of the story on the blog of John Tarley  with Tarley Robinson, PLC, Attorneys and Counselors at Law

Read more about the Kingsmill Community here

Filed under: James City County Williamsburg VA Neighborhoods, Kingsmill, williamsburg va |