                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VACATION OF PLAT BEFORE SALE OF LOT THEREIN; ORDINANCE OF VACATION (§
15.2-2271)

Where no lot has been sold, the recorded plat, or part thereof, may be vacated
according to either of the following methods:

1. With the consent of the designated agent of the locality where the land lies,
by the owners, proprietors and trustees, if any, who signed the statement
required by &#xA7; 15.2-2264 at any time before the sale of any lot therein, by
a written instrument, declaring the plat to be vacated, duly executed,
acknowledged or proved and recorded in the same clerk&#8217;s office wherein the
plat to be vacated is recorded and the execution and recordation of such writing
shall operate to destroy the force and effect of the recording of the plat so
vacated and to divest all public rights in, and to reinvest the owners,
proprietors and trustees, if any, with the title to the streets, alleys,
easements for public passage and other public areas laid out or described in the
plat; or

2. By ordinance of the governing body of the locality in which the property
shown on the plat or part thereof to be vacated lies, provided that no
facilities for which bonding is required pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA7; 15.2-2241
through 15.2-2245 have been constructed on the property and no facilities have
been constructed on any related section of the property located in the
subdivision within five years of the date on which the plat was first recorded.
			The ordinance shall not be adopted until after notice has been given as
required by &#xA7; 15.2-2204. Any person may appear at the meeting for the
purpose of objecting to the adoption of the ordinance. An appeal from the
adoption of the ordinance may be filed within thirty days of the adoption of the
ordinance with the circuit court having jurisdiction of the land shown on the
plat or part thereof to be vacated. Upon appeal the court may nullify the
ordinance if it finds that the owner of the property shown on the plat will be
irreparably damaged. If no appeal from the adoption of the ordinance is filed
within the time above provided or if the ordinance is upheld on appeal, a
certified copy of the ordinance of vacation may be recorded in the clerk&#8217;s
office of any court in which the plat is recorded.
			The execution and recordation of the ordinance of vacation shall operate to
destroy the force and effect of the recording of the plat, or any portion
thereof, so vacated, and to divest all public rights in and to the property and
reinvest the owners, proprietors and trustees, if any, with the title to the
streets, alleys, and easements for public passage and other public areas laid
out or described in the plat.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 15-793, 15-967.16; 1950, p. 722; 1962, c. 407, §
15.1-481; 1964, c. 564; 1987, c. 404; 1997, c.; 2024, cc. 225, 242; 2025, c.
594.