Subdivision ordinance rewrite

 

Land use ordinances are crucial to appropriate growth

Following last year’s farcical failure of the Centerville small area plan, Goochland County is back at it. On Wednesday, May 29, a community meeting was held to discuss the rewrite of the county’s subdivision ordinance, which has not been rewritten since its creation in 1979, 45 years ago.

(Another community meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 12 to discuss amendments to county ordinances dealing with stormwater management and erosion and sediment control; floodplain zoning; and removal of floor area ratio regulations for commercial zoning districts. Go to the county website goochlandva.us for details.)

Ray Cash, Assistant Director of Community Development, introduced Mark White, (https://planningandlaw.com/our-team), the consultant retained by the county to complete the task.

The goal of the initiative is to make the Goochland subdivision ordinance align with the Code of Virginia, which has changed a lot since 1979, county zoning ordinances, and our comprehensive plan. Another is to create a document that is user friendly for citizens, developers and landowners. It should provide for best practices of good land use planning and have public support. Roads are regulated by VDOT. The Virginia Fire Prevention Code also plays a part in roads.

The project will be conducted in three phases. The first, “diagnostic” will include a review of existing documents, public outreach, and an analysis report and outline. Next comes a preliminary draft prepared for staff review. The final phase, adoption and finalization, will have a work session with the planning commission and supervisors about a final draft and adoption after public hearings by the planning commissions and supervisors.

Organization of information in the final product will make it easy to find specific topics. White said that flow charts to describe processes, bullet points, indices, and referenced sections of other documents will be included. All of this is on the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/1323/Subdivision-Ordinance-Update

“The most important goal,” said White, “is to make sure that what we’re doing has public support, that folks who are regulated by the subdivision ordinance know about it.” County residents should be satisfied that this ordinance promotes the kind of development they want to see in their neighborhoods and rural areas of the county.

White explained that Virginia is a Dillion Rule state where counties are “creatures of the state” and have only those powers given to them by the legislature, including regulating subdivision plats. He said that the portion of the Code of Virginia dealing with subdivisions, Section 15.22 et seq, is detailed and complex.

White contended that the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (https://www.goochlandva.us/250/2035-Comprehensive-Plan) is the county’s constitution for development.

While the term subdivision conjures up images of rows of houses, the subdivision ordinance governs division of property to provide reliable ownership records, track when sales are made, and who owns the property. Assigning a unique number identifier to each parcel of land that pinpoints its dimensions and location is vital for this. It establishes a process for creating new lots ensuring that there are adequate public improvements and can provide phasing for development of large residential communities.

The subdivision ordinance, explained White, does not regulate use or lot size, those are managed by the zoning ordinances. White said that the Virginia Supreme Court has established that subdivision regulations cannot be used to control zoning. The subdivision ordinance does not rezone or regulate maintenance of parcels. That is addressed in other land use ordinances.

In Goochland, we have minor subdivisions with fewer than five lots, major subdivisions when a parent tract is divide into more than five lots, and family subdivisions where all of the lots are owned by relatives. Regulations dealing with a family member selling their land to an outsider are confusing at best.

“By right” divisions of large parcels designated as “parent tracts” in 1979 generated some discussion from the relatively small audience.

Knight Bowles, who served on the planning commission and Board of Equalization, questioned the consistency of mechanisms governing division of parent tracts. While there is robust opposition to large residential rezonings in the east end of the county, “by right cuts” are chopping the more rural parts of the county into a checkerboard of lots sprouting homes that pay no cash proffers and add more driveways to already dangerous roads without requiring any improvements like turn lanes.

White said that the subdivision ordinance should include a section with clear rules for by right splits to counter disparity of how they occurred in the past.

Family subdivisions, which are protected by the Code of Virginia, allow parcels to be divided among family members. The consequences of a lot in a family subdivision being sold to an outsider also seem vague and inconsistent.

A citizen said that he and five relatives inherited 50 acres split among them. The land has been used as a hayfield; the heirs intend to continue to use it that way without dividing it. They have been told that because there is a “paper” right of way on the property, they must build a six-figure road and make sure that the land perks even though it will be used as a hay field. He wanted to know why those improvements must be made now, instead of in the future should someone want to develop the property. That’s the kind of nonsense that makes people sell land to developers.

Bowles, who grew up in Goochland Courthouse when it was a tight knit small-town, urged the county to find ways to enable a wide range of home values rather continuing to develop into a high-end bedroom community whose residents sleep here and live their lives elsewhere. He said that home prices in Goochland, which average $725k are $200k higher than surrounding jurisdictions. Cutting costly development regulations could play a part in mitigating home prices.  That, said Bowles, will require significant land use policy changes and meet resistance from people who do not want smaller lots. As one of the fastest growing counties in Virginia percentage wise, he said that Courthouse Village should build townhouses subsidized by local government to attract residents with a wider range of income levels. “My grandchildren will be gone in another ten to 15 years because they will not be able to live here.”

White urged everyone to visit the subdivision rewrite website often for updates and welcomes comments and questions about the process.

Land use ordinances, the comprehensive plan, and the development process are very important to ensure appropriate growth in Goochland. Please pay attention.