Minutes 02/27/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I wish to add that the Administration in no way guided, advised or influenced the shopping mall developers to prepare maps show- ing areas to be leased for the Mall or land to be subleased to other en'tities as a part of the Mall development. Keyin Reed, City Planner, and Joel Baker, Building Official, presumably found out about the maps that had been prepared and recorded for lease purposes from Jim Ford. I am advised by our Planner and the Building Official that a general statement was made to Jim Ford (in response to his inquiry) that apparently the developer and Clerk did not consider that these maps would require approval of the Planning Commission since a statement was on the maps stating that they were for lease purposes only and not considered a subdivision requiring Planning Commission approval. I did not know that any such maps were recorded until I read the letter from Ford to City Council. I would reiterate, the Building Permits were issued based on the original tracts as being a single land area or lot as defined under the Zoning Ordinance and, therefore, we did not consider the Subdivision Ordinance at all in the processing of this entire matter. Hence, I cannot see how the Subdivision Ordi- nance was violated by the Staff. Even though the Administration was not involved or concerned with the maps prepared for lease purposes, I would, however, like ~o call your attention to 15.1-473 (c) and (e) Of the Code of Virginia: (c) No person shall sell or transfer any land of a sub- division, before such plat has been duly approved and recorded as provided herein, unless'such subdi- vision was lawfully'created prior to the adoption of a subdivision ordinance applicable thereto, provid- ed, that nothing herein contained shall be construed as preventing the recordation of the instrument by which such land is transferred or the passage of title as between the parties to the instrument. Apparently this permits the recording of an instrument by which land is transferred or the passage of title without subdividing land by approved map. The recorded plats are referred to in the lease as an actual part of the lease (even though recorded in a Map Book). In view of the difficulty of the Clerk recording a map as an attachment to the lease the Clerk added a statement to the first recorded lease of the Mall area as follows: For plat of survey, refer to "Plat of Survey for DevelOpers. Diversified" last revised April 16, 1987, prepared by J. A. Gustin and Associates, P.E. & L.L.S., which was attached to and made a part of the foregoing memorandum of lease by reference, see Map Book 18, Page 46, of record in the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court for the City of Martinsville, Virginia. 5