York County, VA HOA Rules: Board Governance (2026)

York County requires a developer to set up a nonprofit incorporated property owners' association, or another Virginia legal entity, before conveying any common open space, private street, or shared drainage facility under Sec. 24.1-497. The declaration of covenants that governs the association has to make membership mandatory for every property owner and give the association authority to assess members for maintenance and improvements. Voting in a residential subdivision runs one class, one vote per lot owned, and in no case may the developer control the association for more than ten years after the first lot passes to an outside buyer.

Before the nonprofit is even formed, Sec. 24.1-498 requires the developer to submit the articles of incorporation, the proposed declaration, the proposed bylaws, and an inventory of the common lands and capital facilities the association will own, complete with anticipated valuation and useful life, to the county. A Virginia-licensed attorney must then certify that these documents satisfy every requirement of Sec. 24.1-497, the Virginia Property Owners' Association Act at Code of Virginia Sec. 55-508, and, where relevant, the Virginia Subdivided Land Sales Act of 1978, plus any special covenant conditions tied to a rezoning proffer or special use permit.

The County Attorney reviews and signs off on that certification and the governing documents themselves before they can be recorded, and any later amendment to the articles or declaration goes back through the same County Attorney review under Sec. 24.1-498(d).