A.
An environmental inventory and impact statement shall
be required for all Class C subdivisions which contain 100 lots or
more (including all sections if the subdivision is proposed to be
developed in sections), and shall be submitted at the preliminary
plat stage. In reviewing the proposed subdivision, the Planning Commission
or Board of Supervisors may waive the requirements of this section,
in whole or in part, where it is determined that such requirements
are not necessary because of the proposed use, size, density, location
or site conditions and information provided by the preliminary plat.
B.
The environmental inventory and impact statement shall
be prepared by a certified engineer or other person qualified to perform
such work. All costs for the preparation of the inventory and impact
statement shall be borne by the subdivider.
C.
The environmental inventory and impact statement shall
include the following information:
(1)
Inventory: existing characteristics and conditions
of the environment, including but not limited to the following:
(a)
Earth (mineral resources, soils, topography,
geology, unique physical features).
(b)
Water (surface, underground, springs).
(c)
Atmosphere (quality as to gases and particulates).
(d)
Natural processes (floods, erosion, precipitation,
air movements).
(e)
Flora (trees, shrubs, grass, crops, aquatic
plants, endangered species).
(f)
Fauna (birds, land animals including big game,
small mammals and reptiles, fish, insects, endangered species).
(g)
Land use (wilderness and open spaces, wildlife
habitat, wetlands, forestry, grazing, agriculture, residential, commercial,
industrial, mining and quarrying).
(h)
Recreation (hunting, fishing, boating, swimming,
camping, and hiking, picnicking, resorts).
(i)
Aesthetics and human interest (scenic views
and vistas, wilderness qualities, open space qualities, unique physical
features, monuments, historical or archaeological sites and objects).
(j)
Cultural status (cultural patterns and life-styles,
health and safety, employment, population density).
(k)
Man-made facilities and activities (structures,
transportation facilities, including movement and access, utility
network, waste disposal).
(2)
Impact: impact upon the area by the proposed subdivision,
including but not limited to the following:
(a)
Modification of natural environment (introduction
of exotic flora and fauna, modification of wildlife habitat, alteration
of ground cover, alteration of groundwater hydrology, alteration of
drainage, river and stream control and flow modification, canalization
and irrigation).
(b)
Land transformation and construction (urbanization,
residential and vacation homes, industrial sites, commercial sites,
airports, highways and bridges, roads and trails, railroads, transmission
lines, pipelines, channel dredging and straightening, channel filling,
canals, dams and impoundments, recreational structures, blasting and
drilling, cut and fill, tunnels and underground structures).
(c)
Resource extraction (blasting and drilling,
surface excavation, subsurface excavation, well drilling and fluid
removal, dredging, clear cutting and other lumbering, commercial fishing
and hunting).
(d)
Processing (farming, ranching and grazing, feedlots,
dairying, energy generation, mineral processing, metallurgical industry,
chemical industry, textile industry, oil refining, lumbering).
(e)
Land alteration (erosion control and terracing,
mine sealing and waste control, strip mining rehabilitation, landscaping,
marsh fill and drainage).
(f)
Resource renewal (reforestation, wildlife stocking
and management, groundwater recharge, fertilization application, waste
recycling).
(g)
Changes in traffic (railway, automobile, trucking,
shipping, aircraft, river and canal traffic, pleasure boating, trails).
(h)
Waste storage and treatment (landfill, underground
storage, junk disposal, liquid effluent discharge, stabilization and
oxidation ponds, septic tanks, stack and exhaust emission).
(i)
Chemical treatment (fertilization, chemical
deicing of highways, chemical stabilization of soil, weed control,
insect control with pesticides).
(j)
Accidents (explosions, spills and leaks, construction
accidents).
A.
In order to coordinate a proposed subdivision with
any intended future subdivision of the same original tract of land,
the subdivider shall indicate on the sketch plat and preliminary plat
(if required) any additional anticipated future subdivisions of the
original tract. This is required so as to insure that the necessary
road, drainage, sewer, water and other such improvements are provided
for the entire tract of land to be eventually subdivided.
B.
Failure to indicate such anticipated additional subdivision
of a tract of land shall authorize the Administrator or Planning Commission
to deny final plat approval of such additional subdivision for a period
not to exceed two years after approval of the original subdivision
of the tract.
A.
The subdivider shall only be required to survey the
lot or lots to be conveyed or developed (whether such conveyance or
development is immediate or future), and the remainder of the original
parcel if such remainder is less than 10 acres in size.
B.
The subdivider shall show by an appropriate sketch
on the plat the approximate boundary and remaining acreage of any
land not surveyed under this exemption.
C.
All lots, including any which are not surveyed, shall
meet all other applicable requirements of this chapter and of the
Zoning Ordinance of Warren County,[1] except that lots not required to be surveyed under this section and not, in fact, surveyed shall not be required to comply with the dedication of right-of-way provisions contained in § 155-39E.
[Amended 9-21-1982]
D.
The purpose and intent of this section is to allow
a person subdividing land to avoid the expense of surveying a large
parcel which he plans to retain for his own use and has no intention
of conveying to others. Such exemption shall not be used for the purpose
of circumventing the purpose and intent of this section.
[Added 5-21-2013]
A.
No land
shall be subdivided within the boundaries of a dam break inundation
zone unless such division complies with the provisions in § 10.1-606.3A
of the Code of Virginia, as amended.
B.
If a proposed
subdivision that is wholly or partially within a dam break inundation
zone would allow development of the three or more residential dwelling
units, and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
determines that the proposed subdivision would change the spillway
design flood standards of the impounding structure, the County shall
not permit the subdivision unless:
(1)
The
subdivider shall change the proposed subdivision so that it does not
alter the spillway design flood standards of the impounding structure;
or
(2)
The
subdivider shall pay 50% of the contract-ready costs for necessary
upgrades to an impounding structure attributable to the subdivision,
along with administrative fees as required by § 15.2-2243.1
of the Code of Virginia, as amended.
