ORDINANCE NO. 04-A.1( )
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND APPENDIX A.1, ACQUISITION OF CONSERVATION EASEMENTS PROGRAM, OF THE CODE OF THE COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE, VIRGINIA
BE IT ORDAINED By the Board of Supervisors of the County of Albemarle, Virginia, that Appendix A.1, Acquisition of Conservation Easements Program, of the Code of the County of Albemarle is amended as follows:
By Amending:
Sec. A.1-110 Application and evaluation procedure.
Sec. A.1-110. Application and evaluation procedure.
Each application for a conservation easement shall be processed as follows:
A. Application materials to be provided to owner. The application materials provided
by the program administrator to an owner shall include, at a minimum, a standard application
form, a sample deed of easement, and information about the ACE program.
B. Application form. Each application shall be submitted on a standard form prepared by the program administrator. The application form shall require, at a minimum, that the owner: (i) provide the name of all owners of the parcel, the address of each owner, the acreage of the parcel, the Albemarle County tax map and parcel number, the zoning designation of the parcel, and permission for the program administrator to enter the property after reasonable notice to the owner to evaluate the parcel and for the county assessor or an independent appraiser to appraise the property; and (ii) state his adjusted gross income for the three (3) prior tax years, as explained in section A.1-111(B). The application form shall also include a space for an owner to indicate that he volunteers to have the parcel be subject to greater restrictions than those contained in the standard sample deed of easement, and to delineate those voluntary, additional restrictions.
C. Additional application information required by program administrator. The program administrator may require an owner to provide additional information deemed necessary to determine: (i) whether the proposed easement is eligible for purchase; and (ii) the purchase price of the easement.
D. Submittal of application. Applications shall be submitted to the office of the program administrator. An application may be submitted at any time. However, applications
received after
July 1 October 31 shall be evaluated in the following year.
E.
Evaluation by program administrator. The program administrator shall
evaluate each application received and determine within fifteen (15) days
whether the application is complete. If the application is incomplete, the
program administrator shall inform the owner in writing of the information that
must be submitted in order for the application to be deemed complete. When an
application is deemed complete, the program administrator shall determine
whether the parcel satisfies the eligibility criteria set forth in section
A.1-107 and, if it does, shall determine the number of points to be attributed
to the parcel by applying the criteria set forth in section A.1-108. The
program administrator shall then rank each parcel scoring at least fifteen (15)
points, with the parcel scoring the most points being the highest ranked and
descending therefrom. The program administrator should , and
submit the list of ranked parcels to the ACE committee by August 1.
F.
Evaluation and ranking by ACE committee. The ACE committee shall review the
list of ranked parcels submitted by the program administrator and shall rank the
parcels in the order of priority it recommends the easements shall be
purchased. The committee should shall then forward to the board
of supervisors by September 1 its recommendation of which conservation
easements should be purchased.
G.
Evaluation and ranking by board of supervisors. The board of supervisors
shall review the list of ranked parcels submitted by the ACE committee and
identify on which parcels it desires conservation easements. The board shall
then rank those parcels on which it will seek to purchase conservation easements
that year. Nothing in this appendix shall obligate the board to purchase a
conservation easement on any property that meets the minimum number of
qualifying points.
H.
Appraisal of conservation easement value. Each conservation easement
identified by the board of supervisors to be purchased shall be appraised either
by the county assessor or by an independent qualified appraiser chosen by the
county. Each appraisal should be completed by October 1. Each completed
appraisal shall be submitted to the program administrator and the owner. The
program administrator shall forward each appraisal to the appraisal review
committee, which shall review each appraisal and make recommendations thereon to
the board of supervisors by November 1.
I. Requirements and deadlines may be waived. Any requirement or deadline set forth in this appendix may be waived by the board of supervisors if, for good cause, it is shown that exigent circumstances exist to warrant consideration of an otherwise untimely application, or it is shown that the requirements unreasonably restrict the purchase of an easement. Under these circumstances, the board may purchase a conservation easement at any time it deems necessary and subject to only those requirements it deems appropriate.
J. Reapplication. An owner whose parcel is not selected for purchase of a conservation easement may reapply in any future year.
(Ord. 00-A.1(1), 7-5-00; Ord. 02-A.1(1), 12-11-02)