SENATE BILL NO. 230 Offered January 9, 2008 Prefiled January 7, 2008 A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2244 of the Code of Virginia, relating to family subdivisions. ---------- Patron-- McDougle ---------- Referred to Committee on Local Government ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 15.2-2244 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 15.2-2244. Provisions for subdivision of a lot for conveyance to a family member.

A. In any county and the City of Suffolk a subdivision ordinance shall provide for reasonable provisions permitting a single division of a lot or parcel for the purpose of sale or gift to a member of the immediate family of the property owner, subject only to any express requirement contained in the Code of Virginia and to any requirement imposed by the local governing body that all lots of less than five acres have reasonable right-of-way of not less than ten feet or more than twenty feet providing ingress and egress to a dedicated recorded public street or thoroughfare. Only one such division shall be allowed per family member, and shall not be for the purpose of circumventing this section. For the purpose of this subsection, a member of the immediate family is defined as any person who is a natural or legally defined offspring, spouse, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, or parent of the owner. In addition, any such locality may include stepchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews in its definition of immediate family.

B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, in a county having the urban county executive form of government, a subdivision ordinance shall provide for reasonable provisions permitting a single division of a lot or parcel for the purpose of sale or gift to a member of the immediate family of the property owner, subject only to any express requirement contained in the Code of Virginia and to any requirement imposed by the local governing body that all lots of less than five acres have frontage of not less than ten feet or more than twenty feet on a dedicated recorded public street or thoroughfare. Only one such division shall be allowed per family member, and the division shall not be for the purpose of circumventing a local subdivision ordinance. For the purpose of this subsection, a member of the immediate family is defined as any person who is a natural or legally defined offspring or parent of the owner.

C. Notwithstanding subsections A and B of this section, a subdivision ordinance may include reasonable provisions permitting divisions of lots or parcels for the purpose of sale or gift to a member of the immediate family of the property owner in (i) any county or city which has had population growth of ten percent or more from the next-to-latest to latest decennial census year, based on population reported by the United States Bureau of the Census; (ii) any city or county adjoining such city or county; (iii) any towns located within such county; and (iv) any county contiguous with at least three such counties, and any town located in that county. Such divisions shall be subject to all requirements of the Code of Virginia and to any requirements imposed by the local governing body.