15.2-4309 - Hearing; creation of district; conditions; notice.
§ 15.2-4309. Hearing; creation of district; conditions; notice.
The local governing body, after receiving the report of the local planningcommission and the advisory committee, shall hold a public hearing asprovided by law, and after such public hearing, may by ordinance create thedistrict or add land to an existing district as applied for, or with anymodifications it deems appropriate. The governing body may require, as acondition to creation of the district, that any parcel in the district shallnot, without the prior approval of the governing body, be developed to anymore intensive use or to certain more intensive uses, other than usesresulting in more intensive agricultural or forestal production, during theperiod which the parcel remains within the district. Local governing bodiesshall not prohibit as a more intensive use, construction and placement ofdwellings for persons who earn a substantial part of their livelihood from afarm or forestry operation on the same property, or for members of theimmediate family of the owner, or divisions of parcels for such familymembers, unless the governing body finds that such use in the particular casewould be incompatible with farming or forestry in the district. To furtherthe purposes of this chapter and to promote agriculture and forestry and thecreation of districts, the local governing body may adopt programs offeringincentives to landowners to impose land use and conservation restrictions ontheir land within the district. Programs offering such incentives shall notbe permitted unless authorized by law. Any conditions to creation of thedistrict and the period before the review of the district shall be described,either in the application or in a notice sent by first-class mail to alllandowners in the district and published in a newspaper having a generalcirculation within the district at least two weeks prior to adoption of theordinance creating the district. The ordinance shall state any conditions tocreation of the district and shall prescribe the period before the firstreview of the district, which shall be no less than four years but not morethan ten years from the date of its creation. In prescribing the periodbefore the first review, the local governing body shall consider the periodproposed in the application. The ordinance shall remain in effect at leastuntil such time as the district is to be reviewed. In the event of annexationby a city or town of any land within a district, the district shall continueuntil the time prescribed for review.
The local governing body shall act to adopt or reject the application, or anymodification of it, no later than 180 days from (i) November 1 or (ii) theother date selected by the locality as provided in § 15.2-4305. Upon theadoption of an ordinance creating a district or adding land to an existingdistrict, the local governing body shall submit a copy of the ordinance withmaps to the local commissioner of the revenue, and the State Forester, andthe Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services for informationpurposes. The commissioner of the revenue shall identify the parcels of landin the district in the land book and on the tax map, and the local governingbody shall identify such parcels on the zoning map, where applicable andshall designate the districts on the official comprehensive plan map eachtime the comprehensive plan map is updated.
(1977, c. 681, § 15.1-1511; 1979, c. 377; 1981, c. 546; 1984, c. 20; 1985, c.13; 1987, c. 552; 1993, cc. 745, 761; 1997, c. 587; 1998, c. 833.)