On August 18th, the Virginia General Assembly convened the 2020 “Special Session” to revise the state budget and to consider legislation to address the economic impact of the pandemic, as well as criminal justice and policing reform. 

Although the Special Session is still underway, we wanted to provide an update on the legislation we introduced (SB 5106) to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the residential land development and construction industry. SB 5106, which provides a uniform, statewide extension of plat/plan validity dates and deadlines for a longer period of time than provided for by many local governments, recently passed the House and Senate – it will now head to the Governor’s desk for consideration.

Background on SB 5106:

As you know, the Code of Virginia establishes validity periods for various local land-use approvals. For example, site plans and plats are typically valid for five years once they are approved; and rezoning approvals and special use permits are approved with conditions requiring the developer to begin the project or incur significant expenditures related to the project within a certain time frame.

In response to the economic uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, some developers have been requesting extensions for approved plans that were set to expire on July 1, 2020. Similarly, some localities have been granting either case-by-case extensions or have enacted ordinances to provide a “blanket extension” of the validity period for certain categories of expiring approvals. The length of these locally enacted extensions has varied.

Overview of SB 5106:

As we have done during previous economic downturns, HBAV worked with several stakeholders to introduce legislation during the Special Session to provide a uniform, statewide extension of plat/plan validity dates and deadlines for a longer period of time than has been provided by many local governments. SB 5106 was introduced by Senator Lynwood Lewis (D- Eastern Shore/Norfolk), passed by the State Senate by a vote of 32 – 4, and we are pleased to report that the bill passed the House of Delegates on Wednesday (10/7) by a vote of 89 – 5, with one abstention. The bill will now head to the Governor’s office for review.

There are several provisions in this bill that are important to note:

  • Any subdivision plat, recorded plat, or final site plan that were valid and outstanding as of July 1, 2020 shall remain valid until July 1, 2022. A locality can agree to extend the validity for a longer period of time, if they choose to. Any other plan or permit associated with such a plat or site plan is similarly extended.

  • For any special exception, special use permit, or conditional use permit, or any modifications thereto, outstanding as of July 1, 2020, any deadline in the exception permit, or in the local zoning ordinance that requires the landowner or developer to commence the project or incur significant expenses related to improvements for the project within a certain time, is extended until July 1, 2022, or such longer period as may be agreed to by the locality.

  • For any rezoning approved and valid and outstanding as of July 1, 2020, any proffered condition that requires the landowner or developer to incur significant expenses upon the occurrence of an event related to a stage or level of development is extended until July 1, 2022, or longer as may be agreed to by the locality. However, the extensions in this subsection do not apply (i) to proffered dedications of land or rights-of-way pursuant to § 15.2-2297, 15.2-2298, or 15.2-2303 or (ii) when completion of the event related to the stage or level of development has already occurred.

  • Previous extension bills were specifically for residential and commercial projects – this legislation provides an extension of validity dates and deadlines for all types of projects.

We have received several inquiries regarding the applicability of this new statute, provided that it is signed by the Governor. As mentioned, HBAV has introduced similar bills between 2009 and 2017 to mitigate the impact of the Great Recession on the housing industry. The last “housing crisis extension bill”, enacted in 2017, extended deadlines and validities until July 1, 2020 – some of the plans that were granted extensions were initially approved in 2004. 

Given that the scope of the 2020 Special Session was limited to legislation which addressed a direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal justice reform, and the state budget, as well as the recognition that we would likely face significant pushback from legislators on both sides of the aisle if had simply extended the 2017 legislation, given the age of some of the plans that could have been extended, we drafted the language to only apply to plats, plans, and conditions that were valid and outstanding as of July 1, 2020. 

You can review the text of the bill and see how your legislators voted here.

For more information, please contact HBAV's Vice President of Government Affairs, Andrew Clark, at AClark@HBAV.com
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