|
PUBLIC HEARING AGENDA REQUEST Sponsor:
Board
of Supervisors Meeting Date: Board of Supervisors
Staff
Lead:
Department: Elizabeth A. Cook Community Development Topic: An
Ordinance Amending Section 2-39(A) (1) of the Topic
Description: At its Background: Section 2-39(3)(A)(1) of the Fauquier County Subdivision Ordinance currently permits family transfers to be made to a legally or naturally defined child, grandchild, or parent of the owner or owners of a parcel of land. Virginia Code §15.2-2244, 1950, as amended, defines a member of the immediate family as "any person who is a natural or legally defined offspring, spouse, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, or parent of the owner." That section also permits any locality to include within the definition of immediate family aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. The proposed amendment is intended to resolve situations where a brother or sister wishes to transfer, by family transfer, a lot to their sibling, or an aunt and uncle wish to transfer, by family transfer, a lot to a niece or nephew. Staff has included grandparent in the proposed definition of "immediate family", as it appeared to be part of the Board's original consideration. Requested
Action of the Board of Supervisors: Hold a public hearing and consider adoption of the attached ordinance. Planning
Commission Recommendation: On Staff
Analysis: Following is the section of the County Subdivision Ordinance related to family divisions with the proposed text amendment: SECTION
2 – DEFINITIONS (WORDS AND TERMS)
2-39
Subdivision 3) An
exception to the definition of "Subdivision" is made and
approved by the agent is permitted for the following: A)
The single division of a lot or parcel for the purposes of a gift
or sale to any member of the owner's immediate family provided: 1) The
grantee is a natural or legally defined child, grandchild, 2) No previous transfer under this provision has been granted to the grantee in this County. 3) The lot will not be voluntarily transferred to a non-immediate family member for at least ten (10) years except that a transfer of a shared interest may subsequently or simultaneously be made to the spouse of the grantee. This restriction shall be noted in the deed. 4) The
grantee is 18 years of age and able to hold real property under the laws
of 5) The purpose of the transfer is to provide for the housing needs of the grantee. 6) The transfer is not for the purpose of circumvention of the Subdivision Ordinance. 7) The grantor and grantee sign an affidavit duly acknowledged before some officer authorized to take acknowledgments of deeds that certifies compliance with 1 thru 6 above. 8) Lots of five acres or greater shall be served by a right-of-way of not less than fifty feet in width; lots of less than five acres shall be served by a right-of-way of not less than twenty feet in width. 9) Each lot created hereunder and the residue lot shall have Health Department approval for sewerage disposal to serve a minimum of a two-bedroom residue. 10) When the residue can no longer be divided under this provision or otherwise, a note to that effect shall be contained on the plat or in the deed. 11) If the proposed lot(s) is served by a non-exclusive right-of-way, which is maintained by means of a recorded maintenance agreement or a duly constituted homeowners association, concurrence of the association or persons signatory to the maintenance agreement for the addition of the proposed lot(s) is required. 12) Procedures
for approval shall be the same as those for administrative subdivisions
contained in Paragraph 3- 13)
In the event the Board of Supervisors determines a circumvention to
have occurred, the family transfer approval shall be considered void and
the County may take appropriate action to require compliance with all
otherwise applicable subdivision and zoning requirements or may initiate
action to vacate said lot. No
zoning permits shall be issued for such lot(s). 14) If the Board finds that an extraordinary hardship is being caused by the ten-year restriction, it may reduce the time period to alleviate the hardship. This hardship provision shall be noted on the plat or in the deed. During the staff's analysis of the proposed text amendment, several other counties' definitions of "immediate family" were reviewed. Those definitions are outlined below: Loudoun County – "A member of the immediate family" is defined as any natural person who is a natural or legally defined child, stepchild, grandchild, spouse, brother, sister, or parent of the property owner; and "property owner" is defined as the natural person(s) (a) who is the sole owner of the property; or (b) who is the (i) sole owner of all stock or other documents of ownership of the corporation, or (ii) sole partner of the general partnership, or (iii) solo managing partner of the limited liability partnership, or (iv) sole member of the limited liability company, or sole trustee and sole beneficiary, with sole possession of any right of revocation, of the trust, that is the sole owner of the property. Based on staff's review of other county subdivision ordinances, it does not appear that other jurisdictions have a broad definition of "immediate family" that includes uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews. The Board may wish to amend the definition to include spouse, sibling, and grandparent. Another option to consider would be to expand the definition of the grantor to allow a family transfer from the estate of an immediate family member or to permit a family division if one of the property owners is an immediate family member. Financial
Impact Analysis: No fiscal impact analysis was required with this request. Other
Departments, Organizations or Individuals affected by this request: |