Virginia Environmental Law & Waterfront Property Rights Resources

If your real estate includes areas that the Federal government or state of Virginia designate as littoral or riparian zones, the options to alter your land can be severely limited. Continue reading for the information you need to understand. Read the full article.

Wetland permitting can be a complicated topic for Virginia property owners. There are multiple agencies involved (Federal, State and Local), plus the reference material online can be vague and even contradictory. Keep reading to better understand... Read the full article.

I have been following progress of a wetlands case pending in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, United States v. Chameleon, LLC & Gary V. Layne, where wetlands preservation is the central issue in this case. This case is the first time in the... Read the full article.

In May 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned 50 years of federal agency practice, with its decision in Sackett v. EPA. Against that backdrop, we turn our attention to Brainard v. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (filed May 17, 2024,... Read the full article.

Learn how the Waterfront Law team fought off the City’s multiple motions regarding their client's case in Pretty Lake, Norfolk, where we used investigative techniques to build an extensive body of evidence, All of this effort culminated in a... Read the full article.

In 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court upended 50 years of wetlands regulation when, in Sackett, it ruled that so-called “isolated” wetlands are beyond the reach of federal wetlands regulators unless a “continuous surface connection” joins the wetland to a... Read the full article.

Virginia’s waterfront property owners benefit from the decision of the Floyd County Circuit Court on November 18, 2024. Read on to learn more. Read the full article.

Virginia is a “caveat emptor” state, meaning that the responsibility falls on the buyer to investigate and discover any defects in real estate property before completing a purchase. This article will explain how "caveat emptor" applies to... Read the full article.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA strips the federal government of the authority to regulate isolated wetlands. A case is working its way through a lower court in Richmond, U.S. v. Chameleon LLC and Layne, that will test how... Read the full article.