Senate Bill No. 342
(By Senators Snyder and Unger)
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[Introduced February 24, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17-4-50 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the requirements for new
subdivisions in relation to highway access.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17-4-50 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. STATE ROAD SYSTEM.
§17-4-50. Same -- Commissioner's authority as to subdivisions
abutting state highway; notice of proposal to
subdivide; filing, approval or disapproval of
subdivision plans.
(A) (a) In addition to other authority granted the
commissioner to control access to state highways, the commissioner
shall have authority in regard to the subdividing of land, any part of which abuts upon a state highway, as provided in this section.
(B) (b) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Lot" means an identified area of land
one acre five acres
or less in size.
(2) "Subdividing" means the dividing, laying out or separating
of
five two or more lots from or within a parcel of land or a
successive dividing, laying out or separating of lots resulting in
the creation of
five two or more lots within a parcel of land
within five years.
(3) "Subdivision plan"
or "plan" means a graphic
representation of a parcel of land showing the lots therein and any
other relevant natural or man-made topographical feature.
(4) "Parcel" means an identified area of land owned by a
person or owned by a combination of persons jointly or in common;
or more than one identified area of land where such areas are
contiguous and the owners act in concert in relation to such land.
(C) (c) Subdividing occurs and a subdivision results within
the meaning of this section whenever:
(1) A person subdivides
five two or more lots from a parcel at
one time; or
(2) A successive division of lots out of a parcel results in
the separation of the
fifth third or subsequent lot within a five-
year period; or
(3) A person divides a parcel into tracts of land larger than
a lot knowing, or having reason to know, that such parcels will in
turn be divided or separated into a total of
five three or more
lots.
(D) (d) The remedies provided by this section shall not apply
to lots which became such prior to the effective date of this
section, but such lots may be considered in determining when an act
of subdividing occurs after the effective date of this section, and
in reviewing subdivision plans and applying remedies to lots which
became such after the effective date of this section.
(E) (e) The subdivision plans of the subdividing of any land,
a part of which abuts on a state highway, shall be submitted
directly to the
state road commissioner
of highways or his or her
designee directly, and the following rules shall apply:
(1) Notice of the proposal to subdivide shall be filed with
the commissioner
or his or her designee, along with a plan of the
proposed subdivision.
(2) The commissioner
or his or her designee, shall review the
plan to insure compliance with the policies stated in section
forty-seven of this article and with any regulations issued by the
commissioner under section forty-eight of this article.
(3) The commissioner
or his or her designee, shall reduce his
or her objections to the proposed point of access to and from the
state highway from and to the real property that is to be subdivided into lots
and to any effects of the subdivision that may
result in an adverse impact to the highway or the highway
right-of-way, if any, to writing and promptly furnish notice of
such objections to the person proposing such subdivision and of his
or her right to demand a hearing thereon.
Upon submission of a
notice to subdivide and a copy of the proposed plan, commissioner
or his or her designee, provides a written time frame for the
review process and may request any additional information and/or
studies that may be needed for review. A subdivision plan not so
objected to within six weeks from the time it is filed with the
commissioner shall be deemed to have been approved by the
commissioner.
(4) In any case where the commissioner
or his or her designee,
so objects to the proposed access to and from a new subdivision
plan, the person submitting such plan shall have reasonable
opportunity for a hearing on such objections.
(F) (f) A subdivision is deemed disapproved if it was not
submitted to the commissioner
or his or her designee, for review
under the provisions of this section or if the commissioner
or his
or her designee, has made timely objection to such plan and such
objections have not been withdrawn.
Disapproval shall have the
following effect:
(1) The commissioner may post signs upon the adjacent highway
right-of-way stating that the subdivision is disapproved, that access to and from lots in such subdivision from and to the state
highway is not allowed, and any other relevant information deemed
by the commissioner necessary to warn the public of such
disapproval and its effect; and
(2) The With disapproval, commissioner
or his or her designee,
shall have authority to limit access to and from such subdivision
as a whole from and to the state highway to such access as would
have been reasonable before the land was subdivided and to prevent
and prohibit any other access to and from the state highway from
and to such subdivision.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the requirements
for a new subdivision to access a road in the State Highway System.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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