Where no lot has been sold, the recorded plat, or part thereof, may be vacated according to either of the following methods:

1. With the consent of the governing body, or its authorized agent, of the locality where the land lies, by the owners, proprietors and trustees, if any, who signed the statement required by § 15.2-2264 at any time before the sale of any lot therein, by a written instrument, declaring the plat to be vacated, duly executed, acknowledged or proved and recorded in the same clerk's office wherein the plat to be vacated is recorded and the execution and recordation of such writing shall operate to destroy the force and effect of the recording of the plat so vacated and to divest all public rights in, and to reinvest the owners, proprietors and trustees, if any, with the title to the streets, alleys, easements for public passage and other public areas laid out or described in the plat; or

2. By ordinance of the governing body of the locality in which the property shown on the plat or part thereof to be vacated lies, provided that no facilities for which bonding is required pursuant to §§ 15.2-2241 through 15.2-2245 have been constructed on the property and no facilities have been constructed on any related section of the property located in the subdivision within five years of the date on which the plat was first recorded.

The ordinance shall not be adopted until after notice has been given as required by § 15.2-2204. The notice shall clearly describe the plat or portion thereof to be vacated and state the time and place of the meeting of the governing body at which the adoption of the ordinance will be voted upon. Any person may appear at the meeting for the purpose of objecting to the adoption of the ordinance. An appeal from the adoption of the ordinance may be filed within thirty days of the adoption of the ordinance with the circuit court having jurisdiction of the land shown on the plat or part thereof to be vacated. Upon appeal the court may nullify the ordinance if it finds that the owner of the property shown on the plat will be irreparably damaged. If no appeal from the adoption of the ordinance is filed within the time above provided or if the ordinance is upheld on appeal, a certified copy of the ordinance of vacation may be recorded in the clerk's office of any court in which the plat is recorded.

The execution and recordation of the ordinance of vacation shall operate to destroy the force and effect of the recording of the plat, or any portion thereof, so vacated, and to divest all public rights in and to the property and reinvest the owners, proprietors and trustees, if any, with the title to the streets, alleys, and easements for public passage and other public areas laid out or described in the plat.

Code 1950, §§ 15-793, 15-967.16; 1950, p. 722; 1962, c. 407, § 15.1-481; 1964, c. 564; 1987, c. 404; 1997, c. 587.