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2018 SESSION
18104710DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 10.1-1704 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 10.1-1704. Diversion of property from open-space land use; conveyance or lease of open-space land.
A. No open-space land, the title to or interest or right in
which has been acquired under this chapter and which has been designated as
open-space land under the authority of this chapter, shall be converted or
diverted from open-space land use unless (i) the:
1. The
conversion or diversion is determined by the public body to be (a) essential to
the orderly development and growth of the locality and (b) in accordance with
the official comprehensive plan for the locality in effect at the time of
conversion or diversion and
(ii) there. The applicant for
conversion or diversion shall submit to the public body (i) materials,
including a letter from the governing body of the locality, demonstrating the
essentiality of the project; (ii) examples of all alternatives, including
project alterations, that were considered; and (iii) clear evidence that no
feasible alternative to the conversion or diversion of the land from open-space
land use exists;
2. There is substituted other real property
which that
is (a) of at least equal fair market value, (b) of
substantially greater value as permanent open-space land
than the land converted or diverted,
and (c) of as nearly as feasible equivalent usefulness and location for use as
permanent open-space land as is the land converted or diverted. The fair market value of
both the land to be converted or diverted and the substitute land shall
be established by a certified general
real estate appraiser with experience in
conservation easement appraisals, and the
costs of the appraisals shall be paid by the applicant. If
the proposed substitute land is not adjacent to the
land to be converted or diverted, then the
applicant shall provide a clear explanation of
why the acquisition of adjacent land is impossible
and how the proposed substitute land will
provide replacement conservation values.
The public body shall assure that the property substituted will be subject to
the provisions of this chapter; and
3. A fund to be managed by a public body is created for the stewardship of the substitute land.
B. A public body may convey or lease any real property that it has acquired and which
that has been designated for the purposes of this chapter.
The conveyance or lease shall be subject to contractual arrangements that will
preserve the property as open-space land, unless the property is to be
converted or diverted from open-space land use in accordance with the
provisions of subsection A of this section.