CHAPTER 461

An Act to provide for the acquistion and designation of real property by
certain public bodies for use as permanent open-space lund, and to that
end to confer certain powers upon such public bodies, and to appropri-
ate funds, levy taxes and assessments and issue bonds; to prescribe con-
ditions under which such property may be diverted to other purposes,
and be conveyed or leased; and to provide for exemption of such
property from taxation.

(S 107]

Approved April 4, 1966

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. §1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Open Space
Land Act.”

§ 2. The General Assembly finds that the rapid growth and spread
of urban development are creating critical problems of service and finance
for the State and local governments; that the present and future rapid
population growth in urban areas is creating severe problems of urban
and suburban living; that the provision and preservation of permanent
open-space land are necessary to help curb urban sprawl, to prevent the
spread of urban blight and deterioration, to encourage and assist more
economic and desirable urban development, to help provide or preserve
necessary park, recreational, historic and scenic areas, and to conserve
land and other natural resources; that the acquisition or designation of
interests and rights in real property by public bodies to provide or preserve
permanent open-space land is essential to the solution of these problems,
the accomplishment of these purposes, and the health and welfare of the
citizens of the State; and that the exercise of authority to acquire or des-
ignate interests and rights i in real property to provide or preserve perma-
nent open-space land and the expenditure of public funds for these pur-
poses would be for a public purpose.

Pursuant to these findings, the General Assembly states that the
purposes of this act are to authorize and enable public bodies, including as
public bodies political subdivisions, to preserve permanent open-space land
in urban areas (as herein defined) in order to assist in the solution of the
problems and the attainment of the objectives stated in its findings.

8 3. To carry out the vurposes of this act, any public body may
(a) acquire by purchase, gift, devise, bequest, grant or otherwise title to or
any interests or rights in rea) property that will provide a means for the
preservation or provision of permanent open-space land and (b) designate
any real property in which it has an interest to be retained and used for
the preservation and provision of permanent open-space land. The use of
the real property for permanent open-space land shall conform to the
official comprehensive plan for the area in which the property is located.
No property or interests therein shall be acquired by eminent domain by
any public body for the purposes of this act, provided, however, this provi-
sion shall in no way limit the power of eminent domain as it was possessed
by any public body prior to the passage of this act.

§ 4. (a) No open-space land, the title to or interest or right in
which has been acquired under this act and which has been designated as
open-space land under the authority of this act, shall be converted or
diverted from open-space land use unless the conversion or diversion is
determined by the public body to be (1) essential to the orderly develop-
ment and growth of the urban area, and (2) in accordance with the
official comprehensive plan for the urban area in effect at the time of
conversion or diversion. Other real property of at least equal fair market
value and of as nearly as feasible equivalent usefulness and location for
use a8 permanent open-space land shall be substituted within a reasonable
period not exceeding one year for any real property converted or diverted
from open-space land use, unless the public body should determine that
such open-space land or its equivalent is no longer needed. The public body
eT assure that the property substituted will be subject to the provisions
of this act.

(b) <A public body may convey or lease any real property it has
acquired and which has been designated for the purposes of this act. The
conveyance or lease shall be subject to contractual arrangements that
will preserve the property as open-space land, unless the property is to be
converted or diverted from open-space land use in accordance with the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section.

§ 5. (a) A public body shall have all the powers necessary or
convenient to carry out the purposes and provisions of this act, including
the following powers in addition to others granted by this act:

(1) to borrow funds and make expenditures necessary to carry out
the purposes of this act;

(2) toadvance or accept advances of public funds;

(8) to apply for and accept and utilize grants and any other assist-
ance from the Federal Government and any other public or private
sources, to give such security as may be required and to enter into and
carry out contracts or agreements in connection with the assistance, and
to include in any contract for assistance from the Federal Government
such conditions imposed pursuant to Federal laws as the public body may
deem reasonable and appropriate and which are not inconsistent with
the purposes of this act;

(4) to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary
or convenient to the exercise of its powers under this act;

(5) in connection with the real property acquired and designated for
the purposes of this act, to provide or to arrange or contract for the
provision, construction, maintenance, operation, or repair by any person
or agency, public or private, of services, privileges, works, streets, roads,
public utilities or other facilities or structures that may be necessary to
the provision, preservation, maintenance and management of the property
as open-space land;

(6) to insure or provide for the insurance of any real or personal
property or operations of the public body against any risks or fazards,
including the power to pay premiums on the insurance;

(7) to demolish or dispose of any structures or facilities which
may be detrimental to or inconsistent with the use of real property as
open-space land; and

(8) to exercise any or all of its functions and powers under this
act jointly or cooperatively with public bodies of one or more states, if
they are so authorized by State law, and with one or more public bodies
of this State, and to enter into agreements for joint or cooperative action.
(b) For the purposes of this act, the State or a city, town, or county
may:
(1) appropriate funds;

(2) levy taxes and assessments;
(3) issue and sell its general obligation bonds in the manner and
within the limitations prescribed by the applicable laws of the State; and

(4) exercise its powers under this act through a board or com-
mission, or through such office or officers as its governing body by resolu-
tion determines or as the Governor determines in the case of the State.

§ 6. Where an interest in real property less than the fee is held by
a public body for the purposes of this act, assessments made on the prop-
erty for taxation shall reflect any change in the market value of the
property which may result from the interest held by the public body.
The value of the interest held by the public body shall be exempt from
property taxation to the same extent as other property owned by the
public body.

§ 7. The following terms whenever used or referred to in this act
shall have the following meanings unless a different meaning is clearly
indicated by the context:

(a) “Public body” means any State agency having present authority
to acquire Jand for a public use, or any county or municipality, or any
park authority or public recreational facilities authority.

(b) “Urban area” means any area which is urban or urbanizing in
character, including semi-urban areas and surrounding areas which form
an economic and socially related region, taking into consideration such
factors as present and future population trends and patterns of urban
growth, location of transportation facilities and systems, and distribution
of industrial, commercial, residential, governmental, institutional, resort,
and other activities.

(c) “Open-space land’ means any land in an urban area which is
provided or preserved for (1) park or recreational purposes, (2) conserva-
tion of land or other natural resources, (3) historic or scenic purposes,
or (4) assisting in the shaping of the character, direction, and timing of
community development.

§ 8. Notwithstanding any other evidence of the intent of the Gen-
eral Assembly, it is hereby declared to be the controlling intent of the
General Assembly that if any provision of this act or the application thereof
to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the act and
the application of such provisions to any person or circumstances other
than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby.

_, Insofar as the provisions of this act are inconsistent with the pro-
visions of any other law, the provisions of this act shall be controlling,
The powers conferred by this act shall be in addition and supplemental
to the powers conferred by any other law. ;

_ .§ 9 Any public body is hereby expressly authorized, without limit-
ing the authority of the public body to acquire unrestricted fee simple title
to tracts, to acquire, by gift or purchase, (1) fee simple title to such land
subject to reservation of rights to use such lands for farming or to reserva-
tion of timber rights thereon, or (2) easements in gross or such other
interests in real estate as are designed to maintain the character of such
land as open-space land. Whenever practicable in the judgment of such
public body, real property acquired pursuant to this act shall be made
available for agricultural and timbering uses which are compatible with
the purposes of this act.