York County, VA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Sec. 24.1-377 creates the Yorktown Historic District overlay under Va. Code § 15.2-2306 to protect landmarks, buildings, and areas of historical, cultural, architectural, or archaeological significance. The Historic Yorktown Design Committee (HYDC) is a three-member board appointed by the Board of Supervisors to serve staggered four-year terms, with up to two alternates; the Board can remove a member for inefficiency, neglect, or malfeasance. The code sorts structures into three tiers: Pivotal (built in 1865 or earlier), Contributing (built 1866-1945), and Non-Contributing (built 1946 or later).

Interior alterations, in-kind maintenance, antenna removal, and landscaping are exempt from review. Minor exterior work, such as inconspicuous additions, docks, or repainting with an approved color, can be approved administratively by the Zoning Administrator, while anything else, including razing or moving a Pivotal building, new construction, or square-footage changes, needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the HYDC, which must decide within 65 days of a complete application. A certificate expires 12 months after issuance if work has not begun, or if work is suspended for 12 months, though the HYDC can grant one one-year extension.

Demolishing a Pivotal building additionally requires HYDC findings that the loss would not harm the district, or, absent those findings, the owner may demolish as a matter of right after making a bona fide offer to sell the property following the notice and timing schedule in Va. Code § 15.2-2306 A.3.