This chapter, the full title of which is "Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance of Essex County, Virginia," shall be permitted, for convenience, to be referred to as the "Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance" or "Ordinance." The accompanying map, titled "Zoning Map of Essex County, Virginia," shall be permitted to be referred to as the "Zoning Map."

(a)

Pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2280 et seq., the County of Essex, Virginia is given the authority to classify and regulate land development under its jurisdiction.

(b)

Pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2240 et seq., the County of Essex, Virginia is authorized to adopt regulations to assure the orderly subdivision of land and its development.

(c)

The Comprehensive Plan of the County of Essex embodies the community's vision and goals. THE primary mechanism for achieving the County's land use goals is the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance. The Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance sets forth the regulations that legally enforce land use policies and establishes the rules guiding the development and use of land within the County. Similarly, the Subdivision Article of the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance establishes the rules by which land can be divided, often setting the stage for subsequent development under the zoning regulations. These two land use tools work hand in hand to help achieve the County's vision regarding land use and the overall well-being of the community.

This Ordinance, and any amendments hereto, have been adopted for the general purpose of implementing the Comprehensive Plan of the County of Essex; promoting the health, safety, or general welfare of the public; and further accomplishing the objectives of the Code of Virginia, §§ 15.2-2283 and 15.2-2240. To these ends, this ordinance is designed to give reasonable consideration to the following purposes, where applicable:

(1)

To provide for adequate light, air, convenience of access, and safety from fire, flood and other dangers;

(2)

To reduce or prevent congestion in the public streets;

(3)

To facilitate the creation of a convenient, attractive and harmonious community;

(4)

To facilitate the provision of adequate police and fire protection, disaster, evacuation, civil defense, transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, forests, playgrounds, recreational facilities, airports, and other public requirements;

(5)

To protect against destruction of or encroachment upon historic areas and working waterfront development areas;

(6)

To protect against one (1) or more of the following: overcrowding of land, undue densities of populations in relation to the community facilities existing or available, obstruction of light and air, danger and congestion in travel and transportation, or loss of life, health, or property from fire, flood, panic or other dangers;

(7)

To encourage economic development activities that provide desirable employment and enlarge the tax base;

(8)

To provide for the preservation of agricultural and forestal lands and other lands of significance for the protection of the natural environment;

(9)

To protect approach slopes and other safety areas of licensed airports, including United States government and military air facilities;

(10)

To promote the creation and preservation of affordable housing suitable to meet the current and future needs of the county as well as a reasonable proportion of the current and future needs of the planning district within which the county is located;

(11)

To provide reasonable protection against encroachment upon military bases, military installations, and military airports and their adjacent safety areas, excluding armories operated by the Virginia National Guard;

(12)

To provide reasonable modifications in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or state and federal fair housing laws, as applicable;

(13)

To protect surface water and ground water as defined in the Code of Virginia, § 62.1-255;

(14)

To establish standards and procedures for the orderly division, subdivision, and resubdivison of lots, tracts, and parcels of land for residential and commercial purposes pursuant to the Code of Virginia, §§ 15.2-2240—15.2-2279, as amended;

(15)

To ensure proper legal description and proper monumenting of subdivided land;

(16)

To ensure that purchasers of lots, tracts and parcels of land purchase a commodity that is suitable for the intended use; and

(17)

To provide standards for development, ensuring appropriate ingress, egress, public facilities, services, and utilities.

(a)

Pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2281, the provisions of this Ordinance shall apply to all property within the unincorporated territory of the County of Essex, Virginia, with the exception that any property held in fee simple ownership and used by the United States of America or the Commonwealth of Virginia shall not be subject to the provisions contained herein.

(b)

Pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2284, the zoning regulations and districts as herein set forth have been drawn with reasonable consideration for the existing use and character of property, the comprehensive plan, the suitability of properties for various uses, the trends of growth or change, the current and future requirements of the community as to land for various purposes as determined by population and economic studies and other studies, the transportation requirements of the community, and the requirements for airports, housing, schools, parks, playgrounds, recreation areas, and other public services; and the conservation of natural resources, the preservation of floodplains, the protection of life and property from impounding structure failures, the preservation of agriculture and forestal land, the conservation of properties and their values, and the encouragement of the most appropriate use of land throughout the County.

(c)

In interpretation and application, the provisions of this Ordinance shall be the minimum requirements, adopted for the promotion of the public health, safety, and general welfare.

(d)

This Ordinance shall not be deemed to interfere with or abrogate or annul or otherwise affect, in any manner whatsoever, any easements, covenants, or other agreements between parties; provided, however, that pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2315, whenever the requirements of this ordinance are at variance with the requirements of any other lawfully adopted statue, regulations, or ordinances, the most restrictive, or that imposing the higher standards shall prevail.

(e)

If any section of this Ordinance incorporates by reference any state statue or regulation, then the ordinance incorporates future amendments of the state statue or regulation.

Except as otherwise provided in this ordinance or as modified through a zoning approval, land, buildings, structures or premises shall only be used, and buildings shall only be erected or altered in conformity with this ordinance's regulations.

Where figures are contained in this chapter, they are provided for demonstrative purposes only and are not a substantive part of this ordinance.

(a)

Should any Commonwealth or federal ordinance, provision, or regulation conflict with this Ordinance or portion thereof, the language of whichever is more restrictive shall be controlling to the extent necessary to resolve the conflict.

(b)

Should any provision of this Ordinance conflict with another provision herein or within other chapters of the county code, the language contained in the more restrictive provision shall control.

(c)

As stated in the Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2261.1, if the provisions of a recorded plat or final site plan, which was specifically determined by the Board of Supervisors to be in accordance with the zoning conditions previously approved, conflict with underlying zoning conditions of the previous rezoning, then the provisions of the recorded plat or final site plan shall control and the zoning amendment notice requirement of Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2204 shall be deemed satisfied.

Should any section or any provision of this Ordinance be decided by the courts to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the Ordinance as a whole, or any part thereof other than the part so held to be unconstitutional or invalid.

The Ordinance shall become effective 30 days from and after the date of its passage, October 11, 2022, and legal application, and its provisions shall be in force thereafter until repealed or amended.