Chap. 118.—An ACT to describe, define, and officially adopt a system of coordinates
for designating and stating the positions of points on the surface of the earth
within the Commonwealth of Virginia, [S B 152]

Approved March 7, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. Section 1. The system of plane coordinates which has been
established by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for defining
and stating the positions or locations of points on the surface of the earth
within the Commonwealth of Virginia 1s hereafter to be known and
designated as the “Virginia Coordinate System’.

For the purpose of the use of this system the State is divided into a
“North Zone” and a “South Zone”.

The area now included in the following counties shall constitute the
North Zone: Arlington, Augusta, Bath, Caroline, Clarke, Culpeper,
Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, Greene, Highland, King George, Loudoun,
Madison, Orange, Page, Prince William, Rappahannock, Rockingham,
Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren, and Westmoreland.

The area now included in the following counties shall constitute the
South Zone: Accomack, Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Ap-
pomattox, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Brunswick, Buchanan, Bucking-
ham, Campbell, Carroll, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Craig,
Cumberland, Dickenson, Dinwiddie, Elizabeth City, Essex, Floyd, Flu-
vanna, Franklin, Giles, Gloucester, Goochland, Grayson, Greensville,
Halifax, Hanover, Henrico, Henry, Isle of Wight, James City, King and
Queen, King William, Lancaster, Lee, Louisa, Lunenburg, Mathews,
Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Montgomery, Nansemond, Nelson, New Kent,
Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, Nottoway, Patrick, Pittsyl-
vania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Princess Anne, Pu-
laski, Richmond, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Southamp-
ton, Surry, Sussex, Tazewell, Warwick, Washington, Wise, Wythe,
and York.

Section 2. As established for use in the North Zone, the Virginia
Coordinate System shall be named, and in any land description in which
I Is used it shall be designated, the “Virginia Coordinate System, North

one’.

As established for use in the South Zone, the Virginia Coordinate
System shall be named, and in any land description in which it is used
it shall be designated, the “Virginia Coordinate System, South Zone’”’.

Section 3. The plane coordinates of a point on the earth’s surface,
to be used in expressing the position or location of such point in the ap-
propriate zone of this system, shall consist of two distances, expressed
in feet and decimals of a foot. One of these distances, to be known as
the “x-coordinate”’, shall give the position in an east-and-west direction ;
the other, to be known as the “y-coordinate”, shall give the position in a
north-and-south direction. These coordinates shall be made to depend
upon and conform to the coordinates, on the Virginia Coordinate System,
of the triangulation and traverse stations of the United States Coast and
Geodetic Survey within the Commonwealth of Virginia, as those co-
ordinates have been determined by said survey.

_ Section 4. When any tract of land to be defined by a single descrip-
hon extends from one into the other of the above coordinate zones, the
positions of all points on its boundaries may be referred to either of the
two zones, the zone which is used being specifically named in the descrip-
tion.

_. Section 5. (a) For purposes of more precisely defining the Vir-
ginia Coordinate System, the following definition by the United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey is adopted: .

The Virginia Coordinate System, North Zone, is a Lambert con-
formal Projection of the Clarke spheroid of eighteen hundred sixty-six,

ving standard parallels at north latitudes 38° 02’ and 39° 12’, along
which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at

€ intersection of the meridian 78° 30’ west of Greenwich with the
parallel 37° 40’ north latitude, such origin being given the coordinates:
x = 2,000,000 feet, and y — 0 feet.

The Virginia Coordinate System, South Zone, is a Lambert con-
formal Projection of the Clarke spheroid of eighteen hundred sixty-six,

ving standard parallels at north latitudes 36° 46’ and 37° 58’, along
Which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of coordinates is at
the intersection of the meridian 78° 30’ west of Greenwich with the paral-
ry 36° 20 north latitude, such origin being given the coordinates: x
000,000 feet, and y = 0 feet.

(b) The position of the Virginia Coordinate System shall be as
marked on the ground by triangulation or traverse stations established
in conformity with the standards adopted by the United States Coast and
Geodetic Survey for first-order and second-order work, whose geodetic
positions have been rigidly adjusted on the North American datum of
nineteen hundred twenty-seven, and whose coordinates have been com-
puted on the system herein defined. Any such station may be used for
establishing a survey connection with the Virginia Coordinate System.

Section 6. No coordinates based on the Virginia Coordinate
System, purporting to define the position of a point on a land boundary,
shall be presented to be recorded in any public land records or deed rec-
ords unless such point is within one-half mile of a triangulation or tra-
verse station established in conformity with the standards prescribed
in section five of this act; provided that said one-half mile limitation
may be modified by a duly authorized State agency to meet local condi-
tions.

Section 7. The use of the term “Virginia Coordinate System” on
any map, report of survey, or other document, shall be limited to coordi-
nates based on the Virginia Coordinate System as defined in this act.

Section 8. Nothing contained in this act shall require any pur-
chaser or mortgagee to rely on a description, any part of which depends
exclusively upon the Virginia Coordinate System.

Section 9. If any provision of this act shall be declared invalid,
such invalidity shall not affect any other portion of this act which can
be given effect without the invalid provision, and to this end the provi-
sions of this act are declared to be severable.

Section 10. The State Planning Board is herewith designated as
the authorized State agency to collect and distribute information, to au-
thorize such modification referred to in section six of this act, and gen-
erally to advise with and assist appropriate State and Federal agencies
and individuals interested in the development of the provisions of this
act.