Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act; certain boundary line adjustments.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact implementation details are left open-ended in the bill's summary.

Boundary Line Adjustments for Chesapeake Bay Area

This bill requires local governments to adopt ordinances allowing property owners in the Resource Protection Area to adjust their boundary lines without creating new lots, provided these properties predate the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.

What This Bill Does

• Requires local governments to adopt ordinances that allow for boundary line adjustments without creating new lots of record for properties located in a Resource Protection Area and grandfathered under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.
• Clarifies that this does not limit localities' zoning authority.
• Directs the State Water Control Board to update its criteria to permit property owners with pre-Act lots to apply for boundary line adjustments without creating new lots.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local governments in Virginia
• Owners of properties near the Chesapeake Bay that predate the Act

Terms To Know

Boundary Line Adjustment

Changing where property lines are drawn between two or more lots.

Resource Protection Area

A special area near the Chesapeake Bay that needs extra protection from development.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify exactly how local governments should implement these ordinances.
• It is unclear when this law will take effect.

Official Summary Text

Certain boundary line adjustments; Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.
Requires a locality to provide, by ordinance, that a boundary line adjustment that applies to lots that are located in a Resource Protection Area and that are grandfathered under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act does not create a new lot of record. The bill requires such ordinance to include that such boundary line adjustment shall be considered as a lot that predates the Act. The bill clarifies that its provisions do not limit a locality's zoning authority. The bill also directs the State Water Control Board to amend its criteria under the Act to allow an owner of a lot in any locality that predates the Act to submit an application for a boundary line adjustment without creating a new lot of record.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL NO. 1154

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns

on January 29, 2026)

(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Hodges)

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered
15.2-2275.1
, relating to certain boundary line adjustments; Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered
15.2-2275.1
as follows:

§
15.2-2275.1
. Local authority on boundary line adjustments for lots that predate Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.

A locality

shall consider adopting an ordinance to provide that
a
boundary line adjustment
for a lot of record
prior to October 1, 1989, does not create
a new lot of record
for purposes of the
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (§
62.1-44.15:67
et seq.)
.