Virginia Supreme Court Voids Part of Chesterfield County's Subdivision Ordinance

While the basis of last week's ruling is a 7-acre property, the decision temporarily opens the door for all agriculturally zoned properties in the county to be subdivided into 1-acre parcels.

1 minute read

March 4, 2010, 5:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur


Voided code:

Subsection (a) of Chesterfield County's subdivision ordinance was voided last week by the Virginia Supreme Court along with two definitions.

The subsection affected : Sec. 17-36. Recordation of subdivision plat prior to compliance with zoning ordinance prohibited. (a) Except as noted in subsection (b), no plat for a lot subdivision shall be recorded unless the land is included within a residential, or townhouse residential zoning district, or is a residential use in a commercial zoning district as defined by Chapter 19 of this Code.

Previously, with any new split or division of an agricultural parcel, the parcels involved had to be at least 5 acres and have 300 feet of state maintained road frontage.

The result is that people will be able to buy up cheap ag land and subdivide it into 1 acre parcels which are much more home-buyer friendly in this housing market.

Thanks to Johnny B

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 in Richmond Times-Dispatch

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