Any owner or developer of any tract of land situated within the City
limits who subdivides the same shall cause a plat of such subdivision, with
reference to known or permanent monuments, to be made and recorded in the
office of the Clerk of the appropriate court. No such plat of subdivision
shall be recorded unless and until it shall have been submitted, approved
and certified by the agent and the governing body in accordance with the regulations
set forth in this chapter. No lot shall be transferred by deed in any such
subdivision before the plat shall have been recorded.
Every such plat shall be prepared by a surveyor or engineer duly licensed
by the Commonwealth of Virginia, who shall endorse upon each plat a certificate
signed by him setting forth the source of the title of the land subdivided
and the place of record of the last instrument in the chain of title. When
the plat is of land acquired from more than one source of title, the outlines
of the several tracts shall be indicated upon such plat, within an insert
block or by means of a dotted boundary line upon the plat.
Every such plat, or the deed of dedication to which the plat is attached,
shall contain, in addition to the surveyor's or engineer's certificate,
a statement to the effect that "the above and foregoing subdivision of (here
insert correct description of the land subdivided) as appears in the plat
is with the free consent and in accordance with the desire of the undersigned
owners, proprietors and trustees, if any," which shall be signed by the owners,
proprietors and trustees, if any, and shall be duly acknowledged before some
officer authorized to take acknowledgments of deeds and, when thus executed
and approved as herein specified, shall be filed and recorded in the office
of the Clerk of the appropriate court and indexed under the names of the landowners
signing such statement and under the name of the subdivision.
No person shall subdivide any tract of land that is located within the
City as defined in Article 7 of the Virginia Planning Act, except in conformity
with the provisions of this chapter.
A.
This chapter bears no relation to any private easement,
covenant, agreement or restriction, nor is the responsibility of enforcing
such private easement, covenant, agreement or restriction implied herein to
any public official.
B.
When this chapter calls for more restrictive standards
than are required by private contracts, the provisions of this chapter shall
control.
No change, erasure or revision shall be made on any preliminary or final
plat, nor on accompanying data sheets, after approval of the agent has been
endorsed in writing by the agent and the governing body.
There shall be a charge for the examination and approval or disapproval
of every plat. At the time of filing the preliminary plat, the subdivider
shall deposit with the agent checks payable to the City Treasurer in the amount
of $50 per plat and $5 for each lot if the subdivision contains five or more
lots; if the subdivision contains fewer than five lots, the charge shall be
$25 per plat and $5 for each lot.
The fees shall be as set out below for the vacation of part or all of
a subdivision plat on written application to the City on forms prepared by
the Administrator.
A.
For vacations before the sale of a lot in the subdivision,
under § 15.1-481, Code of Virginia (1950), as amended: $100.
B.
For vacations after the sale of a lot in the subdivision,
by instrument in writing, approved by the Administrator, under § 15.1-482A,
Code of Virginia: $125. Notwithstanding the last sentence, such vacation involving
streets shall be approved or not by the City Council, and, if approved, such
approval shall be by ordinance.
C.
For vacations after the sale of a lot in the subdivision,
by ordinance of the City Council, under § 15.1-482B, Code of Virginia:
$150.
