Chesterfield committee asks council to hire consultant to rewrite zoning, citing loopholes on flag lots, mobile homes and RVs

Chesterfield County's Planning and Zoning Committee voted Wednesday to ask County Council to authorize a consultant to review and recommend updates to the county's zoning and land-development ordinances, including rules on flag lots, subdivisions, mobile-home parks and RV campgrounds, at a cost not to exceed $40,000.

The request, presented by Mr. Oton, a county staff member, said the county's zoning ordinance has not been comprehensively updated since 1999 and contains loopholes that allow developers to subdivide land without meeting subdivision standards. "They gave me a verbal price of not to exceed $40,000," Mr. Oton told the committee. The motion to present the recommendation to full council passed by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the committee meeting transcript.

Why it matters: Committee members said the current rules let property owners create so-called "flag lots" and repeatedly split land into four or fewer lots to avoid subdivision standards, which can leave neighborhoods with unpaved or substandard access roads and inadequate buffers around uses such as solar farms, mobile-home parks and RV campgrounds. Committee members also raised questions about tax treatment of multiple mobile homes on a single parcel and about permanent RV occupancy, which Mr. Oton noted is limited by state law to 45 days.

Key points from committee discussion

- Flag lots and access: Committee members described flag lots as parcels accessed by a narrow driveway or easement (the "pole") that serve a larger rear parcel (the "flag"). Staff said some recent developments used 15- to 20-foot easements and very long private access drives, allowing property owners to avoid subdivision road standards. The committee discussed imposing minimum width, maximum length and minimum area requirements for flag lots to reduce that loophole.

- Subdivision timing and repeated splitting: Staff proposed time limits on approved subdivisions so that approvals lapse if work does not begin within a set period (staff suggested 12 months). The committee also noted a loophole in which property owners can split land into four or fewer lots repeatedly (staying below the county's five-lot subdivision threshold) to evade subdivision requirements such as the 125-foot road-frontage rule.

- Mobile-home and RV rules: Committee members discussed current local rules described by staff: a standard single residential lot is commonly 10,000 square feet (one-quarter acre); mobile-home parks currently require a minimum of four acres; county policy restricts placement of very old mobile homes brought in from other counties (staff said 30 years is the limit for moved units) and requires certain standards in parks such as new units and brick underpinning. On RVs, Mr. Oton said, "State law says you can't you can only live in a RV for 45 days," and members noted people sometimes move RVs between lots to meet that limit.

- Buffer zones and visual screening: Members said buffer standards date to 1999 and are not always adequate to screen large developments such as solar farms. The committee asked for stronger, modernized buffer requirements around solar installations, RV campgrounds and mobile-home parks.

Consultant engagement and next steps

Mr. Oton asked the committee to recommend to County Council that it hire the referenced consultant (identified in the meeting as "PD COG"/"PDCOG" in staff remarks) to perform a comprehensive review and produce proposed ordinance language and a checklist of requirements. Staff said the consultant had worked on the county's comprehensive plan and could produce recommendations and legal review. Committee members asked staff to provide a written scope and a one-page "cheat sheet" summarizing proposed changes before the council vote. The committee agreed that any ordinance changes would return to the committee and then to full council for final approval.

Vote and implementation details

The committee passed a motion to present to County Council the recommendation to engage the consultant and to request council authorization to begin the work; the motion passed on a voice vote. Staff told the committee the item will be presented to full County Council at its Wednesday meeting and that the committee would receive periodic status updates. Staff stated the consultant estimate was "not to exceed $40,000," and that staff would provide a clearer written scope before any contract is signed.

What was not decided

The committee did not adopt specific ordinance text at this meeting and did not set final figures, time limits or exact technical standards. Several members asked for written proposals outlining precise changes before voting at council. The committee also did not change existing grandfathering rules; staff said existing mobile-home parks and grandfathered situations would not be retroactively eliminated by the review.

Ending

County staff will prepare a written scope and a short summary of proposed changes for distribution to the committee and counsel ahead of the council meeting. If council approves the engagement, the consultant will begin the audit and return recommended ordinance language to the Planning and Zoning Committee and the full council for review and possible adoption.