What is a preliminary plat?
A preliminary plat is a proposed subdivision layout submitted for tentative approval before the final plat. Virginia law lets a locality require one for plats of more than 50 lots, leaving smaller ones to the landowner's option, but Carroll's and Floyd's published ordinances call for one on every division. An approval stays valid five years if a final plat follows within one year and final approval is diligently pursued.
Required or optional turns on which locality reads the plat
The yes or no a landowner needs first is whether the parcel's locality requires a preliminary plat at all. The state statute and the three county ordinances quoted here do not read the same way, so the answer comes from the county, not from the Code alone.
Nothing in this article shall be deemed to prohibit the local governing body from providing in its ordinance for the mandatory submission of preliminary subdivision plats for tentative approval for plats involving more than 50 lots, provided that any such ordinance provides for the submission of a preliminary subdivision plat for tentative approval at the option of the landowner for plats involving 50 or fewer lots.
Va. Code 15.2-2260
| Where | When a preliminary plat is called for | Review time |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia statute | May be made mandatory for more than 50 lots; at the landowner's option for 50 or fewer | 45 days for the agent; 90 days in total including state agencies |
| Carroll County | The subdivider applies for preliminary plat approval whenever a subdivision is proposed, and any division of a lot or parcel is a subdivision | A written response within 60 days after the plat returns from the reviewing agencies, extendable by agreement |
| Floyd County | Required for all proposed divisions and lot line revisions | 40 days for the Agent after a complete application packet is accepted |
| Pulaski County | Not required for 50 or fewer lots, though strongly recommended; required for more than 50 | Not stated in the quoted text; ask Pulaski County Planning and Zoning |
Floyd's rule applies in a county with no zoning ordinance; how that county regulates land without one is set out in does Floyd County have zoning. The dictionary sense of the term, apart from any county's procedure, is on the preliminary plat glossary entry.
Five years on two conditions, and a revocation door that opens at year three
An approved preliminary plat is not permanent, and it is not a final approval. Under Va. Code 15.2-2260 it stays valid for five years provided the subdivider does two things: submits a final subdivision plat for all or a portion of the property within one year of approval, or a longer period a local ordinance prescribes, and then diligently pursues approval of that final plat. Floyd's ordinance uses the same five years and the same one-year window.
However, no sooner than three years following such preliminary subdivision plat approval, and upon 90 days' written notice by certified mail to the subdivider, the designated agent may revoke such approval upon a specific finding of facts that the subdivider has not diligently pursued approval of the final subdivision plat.
Va. Code 15.2-2260
Carroll's ordinance adds a limit of its own: approval of a preliminary plat does not guarantee approval of a final plat for recordation. The final plat has agency approvals of its own to clear, and once approved it runs on its own recording deadline, described under final plat.
There is a second thing an approval can carry. Virginia's vested rights statute lists an approved preliminary subdivision plat, where the applicant diligently pursues approval of the final plat within a reasonable period, among the significant affirmative governmental acts on which vested rights can rest. How that fits with rezonings, variances and the other approvals a tract can hold is covered in what are entitlements on land. Whether rights actually vested on a given plat, or whether a revocation was proper, is an attorney's question.
Submit when the layout is settled enough to follow within a year
Because the one-year clock for the final plat starts at approval, the preliminary plat works best once the lot lines, the road and the sewage sites are close to what the final plat will show. A layout that is still changing shape can use up the year before the survey that the final plat needs is done.
The preliminary stage also has a wider list of people who may draw it, set out in the glossary entry linked above, while the final plat has to come from a certified professional engineer or land surveyor.
Where the step is optional, as for 50 or fewer lots in Pulaski County, the choice is between an early read from the reviewing offices and going straight to a final plat. Where it is required, the question is only when. Floyd's ordinance requires one for every division, so an owner there planning to sell the farm and keep the house meets it too. Carroll's posted text asks for one whenever a subdivision is proposed, yet the same ordinance lets the Agent approve a small subdivision of four or fewer new lots on an existing state maintained road without referral to the Administrator; which path a given split takes is a question for Carroll County Land Use and Planning. The full order of steps from first sketch to the clerk's office is in how to subdivide land in Virginia.
Weighing the preliminary plat for your division?
Tell Lowell the county, the acreage and the lots you are sketching, and he will talk through whether that county calls for a preliminary plat and how its clocks line up with your plans. No cost, no obligation.
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We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions this raises
Does the final plat have to cover the whole tract to keep a preliminary approval alive?
No. Va. Code 15.2-2260 keeps a preliminary approval valid for five years if the subdivider submits a final subdivision plat for all or a portion of the property within one year of approval, or a longer period a local ordinance prescribes, and then diligently pursues final approval. Floyd's ordinance uses the same all-or-a-portion wording. Whether a phased pace counts as diligent pursuit is an attorney's question.
Does an approved preliminary plat let me sell the new lots?
No. In Carroll County no lot may be sold before the plat is recorded, and the statute bars selling or transferring land of a subdivision before a plat is approved and recorded, though it does not prevent recording the instrument of transfer or passing title between the parties. A preliminary approval is a tentative step ahead of the final plat, not a recorded plat.
How long does the county have to act on a preliminary plat?
Under Va. Code 15.2-2260 the designated agent completes action within 45 days of submission, and all actions, including any state agencies, within 90 days in total. Floyd's ordinance gives its Agent 40 days after a complete application packet is accepted. Carroll's has the Administrator respond in writing within 60 days after the plat returns from the reviewing agencies.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Va. Code 15.2-2260: preliminary subdivision plats, review time and five-year validity Code of Virginia
- Va. Code 15.2-2262: who may prepare preliminary and recorded plats Code of Virginia
- Va. Code 15.2-2307: vested rights and significant affirmative governmental acts Code of Virginia
- Va. Code 15.2-2254: no sale before a plat is approved and recorded Code of Virginia
- Subdivision Ordinance, amended through April 14, 2014 Carroll County, Virginia
- Land Division Ordinance Floyd County, Virginia
- Unified Development Ordinance, July 2025 Pulaski County, Virginia