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2003 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 58.1-3233 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 58.1-3233. Determinations to be made by local officers before assessment of real estate under ordinance.
Prior to the assessment of any parcel of real estate under any ordinance adopted pursuant to this article, the local assessing officer shall:
1. Determine that the real estate meets the criteria set forth in § 58.1-3230 and the standards prescribed thereunder to qualify for one of the classifications set forth therein, and he may request an opinion from the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the State Forester or the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services;
2. Determine further that real estate devoted solely to (i) agricultural or
horticultural use consists of a minimum of five acres; except that for real
estate used for purposes of engaging in aquaculture as defined in § 3.1-73.6 or
for the purposes of raising specialty crops as defined by local ordinance, the
governing body may by ordinance prescribe that these uses consist of a minimum
acreage of less than five acres, (ii) forest use consists of a minimum of
twenty 20 acres and (iii) open-space use consists of a minimum of five
acres or such greater minimum acreage as may be prescribed by local ordinance; except that for
real estate adjacent to a scenic river, a scenic highway, a Virginia Byway or public property in
the Virginia Outdoors Plan or for any real estate in any city, county or town
having a density of population greater than 5,000 per square mile, for any real
estate in any county operating under the urban county executive form of
government, or the unincorporated Town of Yorktown chartered in 1691, the
governing body may by ordinance prescribe that land devoted to open-space uses
consist of a minimum of one quarter of an acre.
The minimum acreage requirements for special classifications of real estate shall be determined by adding together the total area of contiguous real estate excluding recorded subdivision lots recorded after July 1, 1983, titled in the same ownership. For purposes of this section, properties separated only by a public right-of-way are considered contiguous; and
3. Determine further that real estate devoted to open-space use is (i) within
an agricultural, a forestal, or an agricultural and forestal district entered
into pursuant to Chapter 43 (§ 15.2-4300 et seq.) of Title 15.2, or (ii)
subject to a recorded perpetual easement that is held by a public body, and
promotes the open-space use classification, as defined in § 58.1-3230, or (iii)
subject to a recorded commitment entered into by the landowners with the local
governing body, or its authorized designee, not to change the use to a
nonqualifying use for a time period stated in the commitment of not less than
four years nor more than ten 10 years. Such commitment shall be subject to
uniform standards prescribed by the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation
pursuant to the authority set out in § 58.1-3240. Such commitment shall run
with the land for the applicable period, and may be terminated in the manner
provided in § 15.2-4314 for withdrawal of land from an agricultural, a forestal
or an agricultural and forestal district.