A jury awarded Walton Funeral Home nearly $350,000 in a legal dispute with Dominion Energy over land taken by eminent domain.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A legal fight between Dominion Energy and a Virginia Beach funeral home led to nearly $350,000 for the owner.
The case centered around Dominion Energy’s high-voltage power lines installed near Walton Funeral Home.
Dominion Energy obtained the land, a parcel of about 0.26 acres, through eminent domain. But the funeral home’s owner, Frank Walton, disagreed with Dominion on how much the land was worth. Dominion Energy’s appraiser initially stated that Walton should be compensated $25,000. But Walton’s appraiser said it should be $700,000.
A group of five jurors decided that Dominion must pay $349,842.
Jeremy L. Slayton, a spokesperson for Dominion Energy, said in a statement: “We respect the jury’s decision in determining the fair market value of crossing parts of Mr. Walton’s property. We appreciate the court’s time in hearing this case.”
Walton’s Funeral Home has been at 2701 Holland Road for 60 years. It now has three transmission lines running across its property to help power Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
It’s a clean energy endeavor that will bring power to thousands of people. But during an August interview, Walton said his solace for grief has been turned into an industrial area.
Walton’s land was one of four properties that Dominion Energy aimed to acquire through eminent domain, a power set aside by the government to take private property for the sake of public use. In August, a spokesman with Dominion Energy told 13News Now that using eminent domain in litigation is always done as a last resort, and that negotiations are attempted several times leading up to it.
However, Walton said the offer Dominion gave him did not come close to what he sees in the value of his family’s property, which has stood on Holland Road since 1967.
“I just want to be treated fairly, like another large corporation would be, if you were buying from them,” Walton said.
In an August decision, Dominion Energy was granted early entry onto the property to cut down trees that would block the transmission lines.
A judge sided with Dominion Energy for the access, calling it a “public necessity.”