[Amended 12-16-2009]
The purpose of this article is to delineate special administrative
procedures and requirements which will be applied to review of plats
of single cut subdivisions, subdivision exceptions, large lot developments,
family divisions, and charitable exceptions.
A.
Intent.
[Amended 11-16-2005]
(1)
The provisions of this section shall apply to single cut subdivisions. It is intended that platting and approval requirements for such subdivisions be restricted to the minimum necessary to ensure compliance with minimum lot size requirements of Chapter 325, Zoning.
(2)
The deed and plat of each lot in a private street single cut
subdivision shall carry a restrictive covenant to the effect that
the streets in the subdivision are private in nature and shall not
be maintained by VDOT or other public agency and that the maintenance
and improvements thereof shall be the mutual obligation of the landowner
in the developments abutting said roads, that such private roads shall
not be taken into the state highway system unless and until the abutting
landowners shall have constructed and dedicated the private roads
in accordance with VDOT specifications, and, thereafter, the Amelia
County Board of Supervisors shall have recommended that said road
be taken into the State Secondary Road System.
(3)
The minimum right-of-way for a private street serving a single cut subdivision shall be in accordance with § 314-6.2B below. The private street shall be surfaced for all-weather use which shall consist of a minimum of six inches of stone base. Private streets shall have a service width of at least 18 feet and shall provide drainage that meets all the requirements of Chapter 300, Soil Erosion and Sediment Control, of the Code of Amelia County.
B.
Access. A single cut subdivision of a lot that is further subdividable
shall either abut a public road by a minimum of 50 feet or have access
to a public road via a fifty-foot dedicated access right-of-way or
fifty-foot easement. If the lot is not further subdividable a minimum
of a twenty-foot dedicated access right-of-way or twenty-foot easement
can be used. In the B-1, B-2, M-1, and M-2 Zoning Districts a minimum
of a thirty-foot access right-of-way or thirty-foot easement shall
be required. No more than three lots shall be served by a single easement.
[Amended 11-15-2001]
C.
Plat requirements. The plat of a single cut subdivision shall be
drawn to scale and shall show the following:
(1)
Date, scale and North arrow;
(2)
Boundaries, dimensions, bearings and area of the new lots, provided
that any lot hereby created exceeding 10 acres in area may be platted
by reference to a previously existing survey of the original parcel
forming the basis of the single cut subdivision, and a new survey
shall not be required;
(3)
Public road to which the lot has access;
(4)
Zoning district;
(5)
Surveyor's certificate and surveyor's seal;
(6)
Owner's consent statement.
D.
Plat approval. Copies of the plat of a single cut subdivision, the number of which shall be determined by the subdivision agent, or his designee, together with a completed application form, shall be submitted to the County Administrator's office, who shall approve the plat for recordation within five business days if it meets these requirements and the minimum lot size requirements of Chapter 325, Zoning. If deficiencies are noted on the plat, it shall be marked disapproved and the reasons therefor shall be transmitted to the subdivider, in writing.
A.
Application for exception. Provided that such requirement is not
otherwise contrary to law, application for approval of a division
as a subdivision exception under this chapter shall be made prior
to recordation of any such division. Application shall be made to
the County Administrator's office. The application shall include a
plat of survey certified and sealed by a surveyor, drawn to such scale
and including such minimal information sufficient to satisfy the Community
Development Department that the division qualifies as a subdivision
exception.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
Recordation of exception. Provided that such requirement is not otherwise
contrary to law, no plat of any division qualifying as a subdivision
exception shall be recorded unless and until it shall have been submitted
to and approved within five working days as a subdivision exception
by the subdivision agent, or his designee. The plat of any such approved
subdivision exception shall contain a clearly visible indication that
it is a subdivision exception, and shall be dated and signed by a
designated member of the County Administrator's office.
A.
General information.
[Amended 11-16-2005]
(1)
All divisions of 40 acres or more shall be considered a large lot development. No lot in a large lot development shall be less than 40 acres in area except for a family division created in accordance with § 314-6.5 of this chapter.
(2)
A maximum of five large lots can be created from a parent tract.
B.
Remnants. All parcels smaller than 40 acres remaining after subdivision
of a tract shall be added to adjacent parcels or lots.
C.
Street construction requirements. All streets serving large lot developments
shall be constructed according to Virginia Department of Transportation's
Subdivision Street Requirements/Design Guidelines for Subdivision
Streets and shall be dedicated for public use.
[Amended 11-16-2005]
D.
Street frontage. All lots in a large lot development shall have a minimum of 1,000 feet of frontage (that side of a lot abutting on a street; the front lot line) along an existing public street or shall have a minimum of 800 feet of frontage along a new subdivision street. A family division created in accordance with § 314-6.5C(2) below shall have a minimum of 350 feet of frontage on a publicly maintained street or road.
[Amended 11-16-2005]
E.
Separate ownership. Where the land covered by a development includes
two or more parcels in separate ownership, and lot arrangement is
such that a property ownership line divides one or more lots, the
land in each lot so divided shall be transferred by deed to single
ownership, simultaneous with the recording of the final plat. Said
deed is to be deposited with the final plat until the subdivider is
ready to record same, and they both shall then be recorded together.
F.
Plat requirements. The plat of a large lot development shall be governed by the same requirements for the plat of a single cut subdivision as specified in § 314-6.2C. If new subdivision streets are proposed, the plat shall include sufficient information on the construction of such proposed streets to assure compliance with § 314-6.4C above.
[Amended 11-16-2005]
G.
Plat approval. Copies of a large lot development plat, the number
of which shall be determined by the subdivision agent, or his designee,
shall be submitted to the County Administrator's office for review.
If new subdivision streets are proposed, the subdivision agent shall
forward the plat to the Virginia Department of Transportation for
review and approval. The subdivision agent shall approve the plat
upon determining that the development meets the requirements of this
chapter within 60 days. If the plat is not approved, the reasons therefore
shall be transmitted, in writing, to the applicant.
[Amended 11-16-2005;
at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A.
One division limit. Only one such division shall be allowed during
the lifetime of each family member of the donor or grantor without
regard for ownership by the donor or grantor of differing tracts or
parcels of land, and shall not be for the purpose of circumventing
this chapter. Any further division beyond one cut for each family
member shall be considered a subdivision subject to the provisions
of this chapter. No more than three lots shall be served by a single
easement.
[Amended 11-17-1999]
B.
Immediate family. For the purposes hereof, a member of the immediate
family is defined as any person who is natural or legally defined
offspring, stepchild, spouse, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, or
parent of the owner.
[Amended 3-20-2024 by Ord. No. 24-01]
C.
Restrictions.
[Amended 5-17-2006]
(1)
Any lot hereby created other than in a large lot development
shall contain a minimum of two acres to qualify as a family division
and shall have a reasonable access right-of-way and/or easement a
minimum of 20 feet wide providing ingress and egress to a publicly
maintained street or road. The parcel from which the family division
is made shall maintain the minimum lot size of the zoning district
in which it is located.
[Amended 3-20-2024 by Ord. No. 24-01]
(2)
No lot in a large lot development may be deeded as a family division unless said lot is 10 acres in size or larger and approved under the provisions of this chapter. The parcel from which the family division is made shall maintain the forty-acre minimum lot size for a large lot development in accordance with § 314-6.4A above.
(3)
No family division shall be made unless approved by the County
Administrator or his designee. Approval shall be made within five
business days of the County Administrator's office receiving all appropriate
information to determine the family division.
(4)
The land being divided has been owned by the current owner or member of the owner’s immediate family, in accordance with § 314-6.5B, above for at least five consecutive years.
[Added 3-20-2024 by Ord. No. 24-01[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also renumbered former Subsection
C(4) through (6) and Subsection C(5) through (7), respectively.
(5)
During the initial five-year period following the creation of lots by family division, no sale of any such lot shall be made to any person other than an immediate family member as defined in § 314-6.5B above unless such lots are subject to an involuntary transfer such as by foreclosure, death, judicial sale, condemnation, or bankruptcy and such transfer is approved by the County Administrator. Furthermore, no building permit shall be issued to the recipient of any such lot if such recipient is not an immediate family member as defined in § 314-6.5B above.
(6)
No family division shall be made in subdivisions recorded in
the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court after August 8, 1988.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
(7)
The following note shall be added to the deed for a family division: "The grantor desires to divide the parent parcel to create a family division lot under the authority of Amelia County's family division provisions as found in § 314-6.5 of the Amelia County Subdivision Ordinance. The grantee is an eligible 'member of the immediate family' of the grantor as that term is defined in § 314-6.5B of the Amelia County Subdivision Ordinance. The grantee shall not sell or convey the family division lot to a person other than an eligible 'member of the immediate family' for a period of five years from the date of recordation of this deed except as authorized by § 314-6.5C of the Amelia County Subdivision Ordinance."
[Amended 12-16-2009]
A.
A division of one parcel of land may be permitted for conveyance
to a bona fide charitable organization. A "bona fide charitable organization"
is defined as an entity holding a valid 501(c)(3) designation from
the Internal Revenue Service.
B.
Charitable exceptions may only be taken from the A-5 Agricultural
District, RP-5 Rural Preservation District, RR-3 Rural Residential
District and R-1 Residential District. Only one charitable exception
may be taken from any parcel of land in Amelia County.
C.
A charitable exception division from a parent tract shall not result in the loss of the property owner's single cut subdivision exception per § 314-6.2 of this chapter.
D.
A charitable exception parcel shall be the minimum acreage required for the A-5, RP-5, and RR-3 Zoning Districts, and one acre in size for the R-1 Zoning District unless serviced by public water and/or sewer. In the case of public water and/or sewer the lot size could decrease to 25,000 square feet and if both services are available and used the lot size could decrease to 15,000 square feet. The parcel from which the charitable exception lot is divided shall meet the minimum lot size for the zoning district in which it lies. All other lot requirements (for both lots) shall follow Chapter 325, Zoning, provisions for the zoning district in which the parcels lie.
E.
Request for charitable exceptions shall be submitted to the County
Administrator for consideration along with a conceptual plan showing
the dimensions of the proposed charitable exception parcel and the
residual parcel (from which it was divided), the standard of proposed
dwelling to be constructed, and written evidence of a valid 501(c)(3)
designation.
F.
The County Administrator shall review and provide to the Board of
Supervisors such documentation and summary for the Board's approval.
G.
The Board may impose conditions pertaining to the development of
the property and may, at its discretion, allow a charitable exception
parcel to access a state maintained road via exclusive dedicated easement.
No fee shall be charged for a charitable exception request.
