Virginia Administrative Code › Title 24 - TRANSPORTATION AND MOTOR VEHICLES › Agency 30 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 41 - RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING RELOCATION ASSISTANCE › Part I - General Provisions and Administration of Program › Section 24VAC30-41-30 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
					 shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
"Business" means any lawful activity, except a farm
					 operation, that is conducted:
1. Primarily for the sale of services to the public;
2. Primarily for the purchase, sale, lease, rental or any
					 combination of these, of personal or real property, or both, or for the
					 manufacture, processing, or marketing of products, commodities, or any other
					 personal property;
3. Primarily for outdoor advertising display purposes, when
					 the display must be moved as a result of the project; or
4. By a nonprofit organization that has established its
					 nonprofit status under applicable federal or state law.
"Comparable replacement housing" means a dwelling that
					 is:
1. Decent, safe and sanitary (defined below).
2. Functionally equivalent to the displacement dwelling in
					 that it performs the same function and provides the same utility. While every
					 feature of a displacement dwelling need not be present, the principal features
					 must be provided. Functional equivalency reflects the range of purposes for
					 which the various physical features of a building may be used. Special
					 consideration will be given to the number of rooms, and area of living space.
					 VDOT may consider reasonable trade offs for specific features when the
					 replacement unit is equal to or better than the displacement dwelling.
3. Adequate in size to accommodate the displacee.
4. In a location generally not less desirable than the
					 displacement dwelling with respect to public utilities, commercial and public
					 facilities, and is reasonably accessible to the displacee's place of
					 employment.
5. On a site typical in size for residential use, with
					 normal site improvements. (The site need not include features such as swimming
					 pools or outbuildings.)
6. Currently available to the displaced person on the
					 private market. However, a publicly owned or assisted unit may be comparable
					 for a person displaced from the same type of unit. In such cases, any
					 requirements of the public housing assistant program relating to the size of
					 the replacement dwelling shall apply.
7. Within financial means of the displaced person.
Comparable replacement housing is the standard for
					 replacement housing that VDOT is obligated to make available to displaced
					 persons. It also is the standard for establishing owner and rental purchase
					 supplement benefits.
"Contributes materially" means that during the two taxable
					 years prior to the taxable year in which displacement occurs, or during such
					 other period as VDOT determines to be more equitable, a business or farm
					 operation:
1. Had average annual gross receipts of at least
					 $5,000;
2. Had average annual net earnings of at least $1,000;
					 or
3. Contributed at least 33-1/3% of the owner's or
					 operator's average annual gross income from all sources.
If the application of the above criteria creates an
					 inequity or hardship in any given case, VDOT may approve the use of other
					 criteria as determined appropriate.
"Decent, safe and sanitary housing" means that a
					 dwelling:
1. Meets local housing and occupancy codes, is structurally
					 sound, weather tight and in good repair;
2. Has a safe electrical wiring system adequate for
					 lighting and appliances;
3. Contains a heating system capable of maintaining a
					 healthful temperature;
4. Is adequate in size with respect to the number of rooms
					 and area of living space needed to accommodate the displaced household;
5. Has a separate, well-lighted and ventilated bathroom
					 that provides privacy to the user and contains sink, toilet, and bathing
					 facilities (shower or bath, or both), all operational and connected to a
					 functional water and sewer disposal system;
6. Provides unobstructed egress to safe open space at
					 ground level; and
7. Is free of barriers to egress, ingress and use by a
					 displacee who is disabled.
This is the qualitative and safety standard to which
					 displacees must relocate in order to qualify for replacement housing payment
					 benefits provided by VDOT. Decent, safe and sanitary is also an element in the
					 definition of comparable replacement housing defined above.
"Displaced person" means any person who moves from real
					 property or moves personal property from real property as a direct result of
					 the initiation of negotiations for the acquisition of the property; the
					 acquisition of the real property, in whole or in part, for a project; as a
					 direct result of rehabilitation or demolition for a project; or as a direct
					 result of a written notice of intent to acquire, or the acquisition,
					 rehabilitation or demolition of, in whole or in part, other real property on
					 which the person conducts a business or farm operation, for a project. If the
					 move occurs after a written order to vacate is issued, the occupant is
					 considered a displaced person even though the property is not acquired.
Persons who do not qualify as a displaced person under
					 these regulations include:
1. A person who moves before the initiation of
					 negotiations, unless VDOT determines that the person was displaced as a direct
					 result of the project;
2. A person who initially enters into occupancy of the
					 property after the date of its acquisition for the project;
3. A person who is not required to relocate permanently as
					 a direct result of a project. VDOT, after weighing the facts, shall make such
					 determination on a case-by-case basis;
4. A person who has occupied the property for the purpose
					 of obtaining assistance under the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real
					 Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, and amendments ( 42 USC § 4601
					 et seq.);
5. A person who, after receiving a notice of relocation
					 eligibility, is notified in writing that it would not be necessary to relocate.
					 Such notice shall not be issued unless the person has not moved and VDOT agrees
					 to reimburse the person for any expenses incurred to satisfy any binding
					 contractual relocation obligations entered into after the effective date of the
					 notice of relocation eligibility;
6. A person whom VDOT determines is not displaced as a
					 direct result of a partial acquisition;
7. A person who is determined by VDOT to be in unlawful
					 occupancy or a person who has been evicted for cause, under applicable law,
					 prior to the initiation of negotiations for the property; or
8. A person determined to be not lawfully present in the
					 United States.
Only parties designated as "displaced persons" are eligible
					 for relocation benefits.
"Dwelling" means the place of permanent or customary and
					 usual residence of a person, according to local custom or law, including a
					 single family house, a single family unit in a two-family, multi-family, or
					 multi-purpose property; a unit of a condominium or cooperative housing project;
					 a nonhousekeeping unit; a mobile home; or any other residential unit.
"Dwelling site" means land area that is typical in size for
					 dwellings located in the same neighborhood or rural area.
"Family" means two or more individuals, one of whom is the
					 head of a household plus all other individuals, regardless of blood or legal
					 ties, who live with and are considered part of the family unit. Where two or
					 more individuals occupy the same dwelling with no identifiable head of
					 household, they shall be treated as one family for replacement housing payment
					 purposes.
"Farm operation" means any activity conducted solely or
					 primarily for the production of one or more agricultural products or
					 commodities, including timber, for sale or home use, and customarily producing
					 such products or commodities in sufficient quantity to be capable of
					 contributing materially to the operator's support.
"Financial means" of the displaced person means:
1. A replacement dwelling purchased by a homeowner in
					 occupancy at the displacement dwelling for at least 90 days prior to initiation
					 of negotiations (90-day homeowner) is considered to be within the homeowner's
					 financial means if the homeowner will receive the full price differential, all
					 increased mortgage interest costs and all eligible incidental expenses.
2. A replacement dwelling rented by an eligible displaced
					 person is considered to be within their financial means if, after receiving
					 rental assistance under this part, the person's monthly rent and estimated
					 average monthly utility costs for the replacement dwelling do not exceed the
					 person's base monthly rental for the displacement dwelling.
3. For a displaced person who is not eligible to receive a
					 replacement housing payment because of the person's failure to meet
					 length-of-occupancy requirements, comparable replacement rental housing is
					 considered to be within the person's financial means if VDOT pays that portion
					 of the monthly housing costs of a replacement dwelling that exceeds the
					 person's base monthly rent for the displacement dwelling. Such rental
					 assistance must be paid under last resort housing.
"Increased interest payment" means the amount that will
					 reduce the mortgage balance on a new mortgage to an amount that will be
					 amortized with the same monthly payment for principal and interest as that for
					 the mortgage on the displacement dwelling.
"Nonprofit organization" means an organization that is
					 incorporated under the applicable laws of a state as a nonprofit organization
					 and exempt from paying federal income taxes under § 501 of the Internal
					 Revenue Code ( 26 USC § 501 ).
"Owner" means any person who purchases or holds any of the
					 following interests in real property:
1. Fee title, a life estate, a land contract, a 99-year
					 lease, or a lease including any options for extension with at least 50 years to
					 run from the date of acquisition;
2. An interest in a cooperative housing project that
					 includes the right to occupy a dwelling; or
3. A contract to purchase any of the interests or estates
					 described in the preceding two descriptions of interests in real
					 property.
"Person" means any individual, family, partnership,
					 corporation or association.
"Purchase supplement" means the amount that, when added to
					 the acquisition value, equals the cost of comparable replacement
					 housing.
"Rent supplement" means the amount that equals 42 times the
					 difference between base monthly rental of a displacement dwelling including
					 utilities and the monthly rent of a comparable dwelling including
					 utilities.
"Small business" means any business having not more than
					 500 employees working at the site being acquired or displaced by a program or
					 project, which site is the location of economic activity. Sites operated solely
					 by outdoor advertising signs, displays or devices do not qualify as a small
					 business eligible for reestablishment expenses.
"State agency" means any department, agency, or
					 instrumentality of the Commonwealth; public authority, municipal corporation,
					 local governmental unit or political subdivision of the Commonwealth or any
					 department, agency or instrumentality thereof; person who has the authority to
					 acquire property by eminent domain under state law; or two or more of the
					 aforementioned, which carries out projects that cause people to be
					 displaced.
Statutory Authority: § 25.1-402 of the Code of
						Virginia; 42 USC § 4601 et seq.; 49 CFR Part
						24.