(A) Public water and sewer. Where public water supply and public sewerage systems are available, such services shall be extended to all lots within a proposed subdivision.
(B) Central water and sewer.
(1) A subdivision for which public water and/or sanitary sewerage service is not available and which will have 33 or more lots and which comprise a density of 2.18 dwelling units per acre or greater shall be served by a central water system and central sewerage system, to be constructed by the subdivider at his or her expense, as provided herein.
(2) The design and construction of each central water system and central sewerage system required by this section shall be approved by the Virginia Department of Health, or its local office, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the subdivision agent. Each system shall compliment or supplement existing or proposed county utilities to the extent that existing public utilities are inadequate.
(3) Such central water and sewage systems shall be offered for dedication to Northampton County, without cost, and shall be accepted by Northampton County and operated as part of the public utility system, if the Board of Supervisors of Northampton County determines that county ownership and operation of the system would be consistent with the plans for Northampton County's public utility system.
(C) Individual private wells and septic systems.
(1) A subdivision for which public water and/or sanitary sewerage service is not available as provided in division (A) of this section, and for which either a central water system or central sewerage system, is not required or provided, shall be served by individual private wells or septic systems, or both.
(2) The subdivision agent shall not approve any subdivision where central water and sewer are not provided unless the subdivision agent receives in writing from the appropriate official of the Virginia Department of Health that each lot on the proposed plat has a site suitable for sewage disposal and an approved 100% reserve site pursuant to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. The subdivider shall provide the Virginia Department of Health with information on soil studies, percolation tests, topographic studies and other engineering data as evidence that the land is suitable for sewage disposal. Drainfield and reserve drainfield must be shown on all plats. Health Department conditional use permits for septic system use during only certain months are not acceptable. The subdivision agent shall not approve any plan of subdivision in which any portion of any sanitation device or system or its 100% reserve site is proposed to be constructed within a high-hazard flood zone as designated on the most recent FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
(3) The appropriate Health Department official shall determine the suitability of the soil of each lot of the subdivision for which septic systems with subsurface disposal will be constructed, and the subdivider shall submit the opinion of the appropriate health official to the subdivision agent.
(4) No preliminary or record plat of subdivision shall be approved where a well and/or sewage disposal system is to be provided for each building lot in the subdivision, until written approval of proposed locations for such systems has been secured from the appropriate health official. Such approved locations shall be shown to scale on the preliminary and/or record plat.
(5) Any source of groundwater intended to supply potable water must be an approved source of supply reasonably calculated to be capable of furnishing the needs of the eventual inhabitants of the subdivision. The subdivision agent may require, at the expense of the subdivider, geotechnical or other tests to determine the suitability of the soil for subsurface disposal and may require hydrogeologic or other tests to determine the adequacy of the groundwater supply for the proposed use or uses.
(6) Any proposed lots which have been completely tested and do not meet Health Department requirements may be approved with a note similar to the following placed on the plat:
"NOTE: This lot is not approved as a building lot as it is unsuitable for the installation of an on-site sewage disposal system and/or individual water supply under the current standards of the Health Department."
(7) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the subdivision agent shall not approve the use of individual private wells if the appropriate health official determines that the topography of the property is such that individual private wells will be endangered by individual septic systems.
(Ord. passed 11-15-2006; Am. Ord. passed 11-10-2020; Am. Ord. passed 12-8-2020)