Mount Aldie, LLC v. Land Trust of Virginia, Inc. – Opinion on remand

In 2008, a landowner gifted a conservation easement over a 60-acre wooded parcel to the Land Trust of Virginia that established a 100-foot buffer area along the Little River. This case is an unfortunate example of the perils of conservation easement drafting.

In 2008, a landowner gifted a conservation easement over a 60-acre wooded parcel to the Land Trust of Virginia that established a 100-foot buffer area along the Little River. Mount Aldie purchased the property in 2009 and in 2013 conducted tree removal and grading activities within the buffer area.

The appellate court interpreted the overlay zone of tighter restrictions on the buffer area as alternate restrictions. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded disagreeing with the trial court's reading of the conservation easement.

The court held that a negative easement in gross for conservation or historic preservation purposes was a valid easement under Virginia law, even though it was established in 1973, before the enactment of the Virginia Conservation Easement Act.

The Tax Court reduced the value of a conservation easement on a 320 acre parcel on the upper Boulder River in Montana from 55% to 44% of the value of the property. This is the first case approving a deduction for an amendment to a conservation easement.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed that a landowner subject to one geographic portion of a conservation easement protected property does not have standing to enforce that easement as it pertains to a separate area of the protected property owned by another landowner.

The disputed issues in the case involve the view easement and are irrelevant from a strictly land conservation perspective, but, are important as an example of how imprecise drafting can allow for a presumably unintended and possibly unfortunate result.

This is a conservation easement drafting template from the accredited Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed that a landowner subject to one geographic portion of a conservation easement protected property does not have standing to enforce that easement as it pertains to a separate area of the protected property owned by another landowner.

The summer 2008 issue of Saving Land highlights land trusts taking action on climate change, shares how the Western New York Land Conservancy was awarded a large judgement in court over a neighbor landowner’s violations of a protected preserve and features resources for the path to accreditation.