Sec. 4-01. - Compliance with regulations.

From and after the effective date of this ordinance or amendment thereof, the following provisions shall be effective within the City of Newport News and shall not negate the requirements of the city zoning ordinance [Chapter 45], provided that the subdivision review board may permit a residential subdivision of a parcel not having public street frontage upon the owner producing the evidence and the board making the findings required by section 4.01.9:

(a)

For every subdivision lot of five (5) acres or more, the following sections and articles of this ordinance shall apply:

1.

Section 4-01.8. Court partition.

2.

Section 4-01.9. Subdivision review board.

3.

Section 4-01.10. Conflict with other ordinances.

4.

Section 5-01. General requirements.

5.

Section 5-02. Preliminary development plan.

6.

Section 5-05. Filing of final plat.

7.

Section 5-06. Recordation of final plat.

8.

Section 5-07. Appeals.

9.

Section 5-08. Filing and recording fees.

10.

Article VI. Requirements of Preliminary Development Plans.

11.

Article VII. Requirements of Final Plat.

12.

Section 8-01.1. Lots [Shape].

13.

Section 8-01.2. Size.

14.

Section 8-01.9. Usable land area.

15.

Section 8-05. Easements.

16.

Section 8-06. Easements along streams.

17.

Section 8-07. Land inadequately drained.

18.

Article XIII. Violations and penalties.

19.

Article XIV. Separability clause.

20.

Article XV. Amendments.

21.

Article XVI. Repeal.

(b)

For every subdivision lot of five (5) acres or more that has existing public street frontage or would front on a proposed public street, the following sections and articles of this ordinance shall apply:

1.

All articles and sections as listed in subsection (a) therein.

2.

Article IV. General regulations.

3.

Section 8-01.1. Location.

4.

Section 8-01.10. Access to major thoroughfares.

5.

Section 8-03.7. Private streets.

6.

Section 8-04. Building setback lines.

(c)

For every subdivision lot of less than five (5) acres, all sections of the Subdivision Ordinance (hereinafter referred to as "this ordinance") shall apply.

(d)

For every subdivision lot, irrespective of size, created for the purposes of public streets and/or public improvements, the requirements of this ordinance for such public streets and/or public improvements shall apply. A final plat or legal plat, as determined by the department of engineering, shall be required whenever a street to be dedicated to the city is created.

(e)

For every Neotraditional Overlay District, the following shall apply.

1.

All articles and sections as listed in (a) and (b) herein above, but excluding subsections (a)5. and (a)10.

2.

All pertinent articles and sections of Chapter 33.02, Site Regulations, of the City Code, as set forth therein.

3.

The director of engineering shall resolve any conflicts which may exist among city ordinances and regulations associated with development proposals within Neotraditional Overlay Districts.

(Ord. No. 3479-86; Ord. No. 4659-94; Ord. No. 5635-01; Ord. No. 5891-03)

4-01.1.

Plat required. No person shall subdivide land without making and recording a plat of such subdivisions in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance.

4-01.2.

Approval before recording. No such plat of any subdivision shall be recorded unless and until it shall have been submitted to and approved by the duly authorized agent of the city council as provided herein. No clerk of any court shall file or record a plat of a subdivision required by this ordinance to be recorded until such plat has been approved as required herein.

4-01.3.

Sale of lots in unrecorded subdivision prohibited. No person shall sell or transfer any such land by reference to or exhibition of or by other use of a plat of a subdivision, before such plat has been duly recorded as provided herein, unless such subdivision was lawfully created prior to the adoption of this ordinance, provided nothing herein shall be construed as preventing the recordation of the instrument by which such land is transferred or the passage of title as between the parties to the instrument.

4-01.4.

No building permit issued. No building permit shall be issued for any structure or building to be located on any land which has been subdivided or is proposed to be subdivided until a plat of such subdivision has been recorded in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance.

4-01.5.

Private contracts. This ordinance bears no relation to any private easement, covenant, agreement or restriction, nor is the responsibility of enforcing such private easement, covenant, agreement or restriction implied herein to any public official. When this ordinance calls for more restrictive standards than are required by private contract, the provisions of this ordinance shall control.

4-01.6.

Relation to zoning. When the intended use of all or part of the platted area, as indicated by the preliminary development plan and as shown on that plan, indicates the land to be subdivided would be used in a manner not permitted as a matter of right in the zoning district which exists at the time the final plat is filed with the city, the subdivider shall file at his own expense and as a condition to the approval of the preliminary development plan an application for a change in zoning of the affected area to a classification consistent with the use to be made of the proposed subdivision.

4-01.7.

Payments by subdividers and developers for certain off-site sewerage and drainage facilities. Subdividers or developers of land may be required to pay a pro rata share of the cost of providing reasonable and necessary sewerage and drainage facilities, located outside the property limits of the land owned or controlled by them but necessitated or required, at least in part, by the construction or improvement of their subdivision or development. Such payments shall not be required until such time as city council or a department designated by city council shall have established a general sewerage and/or drainage improvement program for an area having related and common sewer or drainage conditions and within which is located the land owned or controlled by the subdivider or developer.

(1)

Payments shall be required only after establishment of regulations approved by city council which set forth reasonable standards to determine the proportionate share of total estimated cost of ultimate sewerage and drainage facilities required adequately to serve a related and common area, when and if totally developed in accord with the adopted comprehensive plan, that shall be borne by each subdivider or developer within the area. Such share shall be limited to the amount necessary to protect water quality based upon the pollutant loading caused by the subdivision or development or to the proportion of such total estimated cost which the increased sewerage flow, water flow and/or increased volume and velocity of stormwater runoff to be actually caused by his subdivision or development bears to total estimated volume and velocity of such sewerage, water and/or runoff from such area in its totally developed state. In calculating the pollutant loading caused by the subdivision or development or the volume and velocity of stormwater runoff, the city shall take into account the effect of all on-site stormwater facilities or best management practices constructed or required to be constructed by the subdivider or developer and give appropriate credit therefore.

(2)

The regulations required above shall include a provision that payments received by the city shall be expended only for construction of those facilities for which the payment was required, and until so expended shall be held in an interest-bearing account for the benefit of the developer or subdivider. The regulations may allow, however, for the posting of personal, corporate, or property bond, cash escrow or other method of performance guarantee conditioned on payment at commencement of construction.

4-01.8.

Court partition. If the partition of any tract is ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction when a bona fide dispute exists between the parties in interest, none of the requirements of this ordinance shall apply. Partition shall not be sought merely as a means to circumvent the provisions of this ordinance.

4-01.9.

Subdivision review board. A review board to be composed of the director of planning, the director of codes compliance, the director of engineering, and the director of public works or their designees, and a member of the planning commission designated by the chairman, shall review petitions from property owners seeking relief from strict compliance with the provisions of this ordinance. The board may exempt the owner from the literal enforcement of the [this] subdivision ordinance if the enforcement will result in an unnecessary hardship. The property owner must show to the board the hardship and that the exemption:

(1)

Will not be contrary to the public interest;

(2)

The spirit of the [this] subdivision ordinance will not be offended and that substantial justice will be done;

(3)

That by reason of exceptional topographic conditions or other extraordinary situation or condition of such piece of property, the strict application of the terms of the [this] ordinance would effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the use of the property or that to except such parcel or division of land from the strict application of the terms of the [this] ordinance will alleviate a clearly demonstrable hardship approaching confiscation as distinguished from special privilege or convenience sought by the applicant.

This exception shall not be effective unless the board finds:

(1)

That the strict application of the terms of the [this] ordinance would produce undue hardship.

(2)

That to except such parcel from the strict application of the terms of the [this] ordinance will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property.

(3)

That the condition or situation of the property concerned or the intended use of the property is not of so general or recurring a nature as to make reasonably practicable the formulation of a general regulation to be adopted as an amendment to the [this] ordinance.

(4)

That the board has been petitioned, in writing, for a hearing by the owner of the property. The petition shall be accompanied by a plan for the proposed development of the land; five (5) additional copies of the petition and plan shall accompany the originals.

(5)

That the property owner entered into an agreement to dedicate to the city any additional rights-of-way for existing or proposed streets and to convey any utility easements required under Article VIII hereof.

Further, this exception shall have no force or effect unless a public hearing be held by the board at which persons affected may appear and present their views. The notice that the board intends to consider an exception from the strict compliance with the provisions of the [this] ordinance shall be published once a week for two (2) successive weeks in some newspaper published in or having general circulation in the City of Newport News or other place where the land is located, if it be outside the city, but within the jurisdiction of the city. The notice shall specify the time and place of the hearing and the hearing shall be not less than six (6) days nor more than twenty-one (21) days after the final publication. The notice shall contain a reference to the place or places within the city where copies of the plans showing the proposed development may be examined.

The cost to advertise such public hearing shall be paid by the party seeking review by the board three (3) working days prior to the public hearing of the board.

In addition to the public notice, it shall be the duty of the petitioner, to notify by registered or certified mail, the owner or owners, their agent or occupant, of all abutting property and property affected. Notice sent by registered or certified mail to the last-known address of such owner as shown on the current real estate tax assessment books shall be deemed adequate compliance with this requirement. The mail receipts must be submitted to the city three (3) working days prior to the hearing.

If the board acts favorably upon the petition, the petitioner shall prepare and file a final plat according to the provisions set forth in this ordinance. In no case shall the city manager approve a plat of property which is the subject of a petition to the review board unless and until the review board has acted favorable on such petition.

4-01.10.

Conflict with other ordinances. Whenever regulations contained in this ordinance impose higher restrictions than regulations contained in other municipal ordinances, the regulations of this ordinance shall prevail.

4-01.11.

Conflict with Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance. Any provision of Chapter 13.5, Chesapeake Bay Preservation, which is found to be in conflict with any provision of this ordinance shall be controlling and shall supersede said provision of this ordinance to the extent of such conflict.

4-01.12.

Subdivisions approved by subdivision review board. Any subdivision for which relief from strict compliance with the provisions of this ordinance was granted by the subdivision review board on or before December 31, 1993, shall be deemed in compliance in all respects with this ordinance.

4-01.13.

No ingress and egress over landscaped areas of subdivision entrances. No curb cut, nor other improvement, shall be allowed for ingress and egress over landscaped areas of the entrances to subdivisions, which either now exist or are to be dedicated and created in the future, where these landscaped areas are specifically designed or used for aesthetic enhancements to the public rights-of-way and for future expansion of the paved portion of the streets they abut.

(Ord. No. 4275-91; Ord. No. 4635-94; Ord. No. 4660-94; Ord. No. 4744-95; Ord. No. 5670-01; Ord. No. 5959-03, § 1)