                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

APPEAL TO CIRCUIT COURT (§ 33.2-905)

A. Any one or more of the landowners who filed a petition, the governing body of
any county or town in which the section of highway or the railroad crossing is
wholly or partly located, or the Commissioner of Highways may within 30 days
from the entry of the order by the Board appeal from the order to the circuit
court of the county in which the section of highway or the railroad crossing, or
the major portion thereof, sought to be abandoned under &#xA7; 33.2-902 is
located. If the Board fails to enter an order pursuant to &#xA7; 33.2-902, such
person or persons named in this section may appeal to the appropriate circuit
court within 30 days from such failure. Such appeal shall be filed by petition
in the clerk&#8217;s office of such court, setting out the order appealed from
or the cause appealed from where no order was entered and the grounds of such
appeal. Upon the filing of such petition, the clerk of the circuit court shall
docket the appeal, giving it a preferred status. If the appeal is by any of the
landowners who filed a petition with the Board for a public hearing, notice of
such appeal shall be served upon the attorney for the Commonwealth and the
Commissioner of Highways. If the appeal is by the local governing body or the
Commissioner of Highways, notice of such appeal shall be served upon the
landowners who filed petition with the Board for a public hearing. No such
appeal shall be tried by the court within 10 days after notice is given as
provided in this section unless such notice is waived. The circuit court shall
hear the matter de novo with further right of appeal as provided by law. Upon
the hearing of the appeal, the court shall ascertain and by its order determine
whether public necessity exists for the continuance of the section of highway or
the railroad crossing as a public highway or public railroad crossing or whether
the welfare of the public will be served best by abandoning the section of the
highway or the railroad crossing as a public highway or public railroad crossing
and shall enter its order accordingly. The clerk of the court shall certify a
copy of the order of the court to the Board.

B. Upon any such appeal, if it appears to the court that by the abandonment of
such section of highway or such railroad crossing as a public highway or public
railroad crossing any party to such appeal would be deprived of access to a
public highway, the court may cause the railroad company or the local governing
body to be made parties to the proceedings, if not already parties, and may
enter such orders as seem just and proper for keeping open such section of
highway or such railroad crossing for the benefit of such party or parties.

C. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any discontinuance of a
portion of the primary state highway system under &#xA7; 33.2-901.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 33-76.4; 1950, p. 729; 1970, c. 322, § 33.1-147; 1978,
c. 187; 2014, c. 805.