Mount Aldie, LLC v. Land Trust of Virginia, Inc.

The predecessor in title to Mount Aldie, LLC (MA) conveyed a conservation easement to Land Trust of Virginia, Inc. (LTV) covering a sixty-acre tract of land. The easement designated a 100-foot-wide strip of property running along the edge of the Little River, as “riparian buffer” (the buffer). After acquiring the property and conducting certain commercial forest operations, MA performed tree removal and grading work within the buffer. LTV later filed this action seeking an injunction to require MA to return certain property to the condition that it was in prior to the work MA performed within the buffer on grounds that MA breached the easement. The trial court granted LTV’s motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability, finding that MA breached a provision of the easement. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that genuine issues of disputed material fact existed over whether MA breached the easement, thereby precluding an award of partial summary judgment to LTV. Remanded. View "Mount Aldie, LLC v. Land Trust of Virginia, Inc." on Justia Law