(A) The county, in accordance with VA Code §§ 36-49.1:1 et seq., as amended, may acquire or repair any blighted property, as defined in division (B) below, by exercise of the powers of eminent domain provided in VA Code Title 25, as amended, and further, shall have the power to hold, clear, repair, manage or dispose of such property for purposes consistent with this section. In addition, the county may recover the cost of any repair or disposal of such property from the owner.
(B) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BLIGHTED AREA. Any area that endangers the public health, safety or welfare; or any area that is detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare because commercial, industrial, or residential structures or improvements are dilapidated, or deteriorated or because such structures or improvements violate minimum health and safety standards. This definition includes, without limitation, areas previously designed as BLIGHTED AREAS pursuant to the provisions of this section.
BLIGHTED PROPERTY. Any individual commercial, industrial, or residential structure or improvement that endangers the public’s health, safety, or welfare because the structure or improvement upon the property is dilapidated, deteriorated or violates minimum health and safety standards, or any structure or improvement previously designated as blighted pursuant to VA Code § 36-49.1:1, under the process for determination of “spot blight”.
REAL PROPERTY. All lands including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto, or used in connection therewith, and every estate, interest and right, legal or equitable, therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage or otherwise and the indebtedness secured by such liens.
SLUM. In accordance with State Code, any area where dwellings predominate that, by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, lack of ventilation, light or sanitary facilities, or any combination of these factors, is detrimental to safety, health or morals.
SPOT BLIGHT. A structure or improvement that is a blighted property as defined in this section.
SPOT BLIGHT ABATEMENT PLAN. The written plan prepared by the owner or owners of record of the real property to address spot blight. If the owner or owners of record of the real property fail to respond as provided in this section, the county can prepare a spot blight abatement plan to address the spot blight with respond to an individual commercial, industrial, or residential structure or improvement, but may only implement such plan in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(C) The County Administrator or his or her designee shall make a preliminary determination that a property is blighted in accordance with this section. The County Administrator or his or her designee shall send a notice, conforming to the applicable requirements of VA Code § 36-27(b), via certified mail, postage prepaid, to the record owner or owners at their last known address as contained in the records of the treasurer, the current real estate tax assessment records, or the records of such other officer responsible for collecting taxes in the county, specifying the reasons why the property is considered blighted. The owner shall have 30 days within which to respond in writing with a plan to cure the blight within a reasonable time.
(D) If the owner fails to respond within the 30-day period with a written spot blight abatement plan that is acceptable to the County Administrator or his or her designee, the county may:
(1) Request the Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing and make findings and recommendations that shall be reported to the Board of Supervisors concerning the repair or other disposition of the property in question; and
(2) In the event a public hearing is scheduled, shall prepare a written spot blight abatement plan for the repair or other disposition of the property.
(E) (1) Not less than three weeks prior to the date of the public hearing before the Planning Commission, the Commission shall provide by regular and certified mail, notice of such hearing to:
(a) The owner of the blighted property or the agent designated by him or her for receipt of service of notices concerning the payment of real estate taxes within the locality;
(b) The abutting property owners in each direction, including those property owners immediately across the street or road from the property; and
(c) The representative neighborhood association, if any, for the immediate area.
(2) The notice shall include the plan for the intended repair or other disposition of the property. The notice of the public hearing shall be published at least twice, with not less than six days elapsing between the first and second publication in a newspaper published or having general circulation in the locality in which the property is located.
(3) The notice also shall be posted on the property.
(4) The notice shall specify the time and place of the hearing at which persons affected may appear and present their views, not less than six days nor more than 21 days after the second publication.
(F) The Planning Commission, at this public hearing, shall determine whether:
(1) The owner has failed to cure the blight or present a reasonable plan to do so;
(2) The property is blighted;
(3) The plan for the repair or other disposition of the property is in accordance with the county’s comprehensive plan, and the comprehensive zoning ordinances; and
(4) The property is located within an area listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In such instances, the Planning Commission shall consult with the Architectural Review Board, regarding the proposed repair or other disposition of the property by the Board of Supervisors.
(G) (1) The Planning Commission shall report its findings and recommendations concerning the property to the Board of Supervisors. The Board, upon receipt of such findings and recommendations, may after an advertised public hearing, affirm, modify, or reject the Planning Commission’s findings and recommendations. If the repair or other disposition of the property is approved, the County Administrator or his or her designee may carry out the approved plan to repair or acquire and dispose of the property in accordance with the approved plan, the provisions of this section, and applicable law.
(2) The County shall have a lien on all property so repaired or acquired under an approved spot blight abatement plan to recover the cost of (i) improvements made by the County to bring the blighted property into compliance with applicable building codes and (ii) disposal, if any. The lien on such property shall bear interest at the legal rate of interest established in VA Code § 6.1-301.53, beginning on the date the repairs are completed through the date on which the lien is paid. The lien authorized by this division may be recorded as a lien among the land records of the Circuit Court, which lien shall be treated in all respects as a tax lien and enforceable in the same manner as provided in VA Code §§ 58.1-3940 et seq. and §§ 58.1-3965 et seq. The Board of Supervisors may recover its costs of repair from the owner of record of the property when the repairs were made at such time as the property is sold or disposed of by such owner. If the property is acquired by the County through eminent domain, the cost of repair may be recovered when the Board of Supervisors sells or disposes of the property. In either case, the costs of repair shall be recovered from the proceeds of such sale.
(H) If the blighted property is occupied for personal residential purposes, the Board of Supervisors in approving the plan, shall not allow for the acquisition of such property if it would result in a displacement of the person or persons living in the premises. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to acquisition, under an approved plan, by the county of property which has been condemned for human habitation for more than one year. In addition, if the county is exercising the powers of eminent domain in accordance with VA Code Title 25, it may provide for temporary relocation of any person living in the blighted property provided the relocation is within the financial means of such persons.
(I) (1) In lieu of the acquisition of blighted property by the exercise of the powers of eminent domain as herein provided and in lieu of the exercise of other powers granted in divisions (A) through (H) of this section, the Board of Supervisors by ordinance, may declare any blighted property to constitute a nuisance, and thereupon abate the nuisance pursuant to VA Code § 15.2-900 or § 15.2-1115, as amended. Such ordinance shall be adopted only after written notice by certified mail to the owner or owners of the property at the last known address of such owner as shown on the current real estate tax assessment books or current real estate tax assessment records.
(2) If the owner does not abate or remove the nuisance and the county abates or removes the nuisance at its expense, the costs of the removal or abatement of the nuisance shall be a lien on the property and such lien shall bear interest at the legal rate of interest established in VA Code § 6.1-330.53, beginning on the date the removal or abatement is completed through the date on which the lien is paid.
(J) The provisions of this section shall be cumulative and shall be in addition to any remedies for spot blight abatement that may be authorized by law.
(Ord. passed 12-8-2009; Am. Ord. passed 6-12-2018)