                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

WITHDRAWAL OF LAND FROM A DISTRICT; TERMINATION OF A DISTRICT (§ 15.2-4314)

A. At any time after the creation of a district within any locality, any owner
of land lying in such district may file with the program administrator a written
request to withdraw all or part of his land from the district for good and
reasonable cause. The program administrator shall refer the request to the
advisory committee for its recommendation. The advisory committee shall make
recommendations concerning the request to withdraw to the local planning
commission, which shall hold a public hearing and make recommendations to the
local governing body. Land proposed to be withdrawn may be reevaluated through
the Virginia or local Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) System. The
landowner seeking to withdraw land from a district, if denied favorable action
by the governing body, shall have an immediate right of appeal de novo to the
circuit court serving the territory wherein the district is located. This
section shall in no way affect the ability of an owner to withdraw an
application for a proposed district or withdraw from a district pursuant to
clause (v) of subdivision 1 of &#xA7; 15.2-4307 or &#xA7; 15.2-4311.

B. Upon termination of a district or withdrawal or removal of any land from a
district created pursuant to this chapter, land that is no longer part of a
district shall be subject to and liable for roll-back taxes as are provided in
&#xA7; 58.1-3237. Sale or gift of a portion of land in a district to a member of
the immediate family as defined in &#xA7; 15.2-2244 shall not in and of itself
constitute a withdrawal or removal of any of the land from a district.

C. Upon termination of a district or upon withdrawal or removal of any land from
a district, land that is no longer part of a district shall be subject to those
local laws and ordinances prohibited by the provisions of subsection B of &#xA7;
15.2-4312.

D. Upon the death of a property owner, any heir at law, devisee, surviving
cotenant or personal representative of a sole owner of any fee simple interest
in land lying within a district shall, as a matter of right, be entitled to
withdraw such land from such district upon the inheritance or descent of such
land provided that such heir at law, devisee, surviving cotenant or personal
representative files written notice of withdrawal with the local governing body
and the local commissioner of the revenue within two years of the date of death
of the owner.

E. Upon termination or modification of a district, or upon withdrawal or removal
of any parcel of land from a district, the local governing body shall submit a
copy of the ordinance or notice of withdrawal to the local commissioner of
revenue, the State Forester and the State Commissioner of Agriculture and
Consumer Services for information purposes. The commissioner of revenue shall
delete the identification of such parcel from the land book and the tax map, and
the local governing body shall delete the identification of such parcel from the
zoning map, where applicable.

F. The withdrawal or removal of any parcel of land from a lawfully constituted
district shall not in itself serve to terminate the existence of the district.
The district shall continue in effect and be subject to review as to whether it
should be terminated, modified or continued pursuant to &#xA7; 15.2-4311 of this
chapter.

HISTORY: 1977, c. 681, § 15.1-1513; 1979, c. 377; 1985, c. 13; 1987, c. 552;
1997, c. 587; 2000, c. 521; 2011, cc. 344, 355.