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2000 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 59.1-274 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 59.1-274. Enterprise zone designation.
A. The governing body of any county, city or town may make written application to the Department to have an area or areas declared to be an enterprise zone. Such application shall include a description of the location of the area or areas in question, and a general statement identifying proposed local incentives to complement the state and any federal incentives. Two or more adjacent jurisdictions may file a joint application for an enterprise zone lying in the jurisdictions submitting the application.
B. The Governor may approve upon the recommendation of the Director of the
Department the designation of up to fifty-five areas, of which five shall be
designated as provided in subsection C, as enterprise zones for a period of
twenty years. Any county, city, or town shall be eligible to apply for more
than one enterprise zone designation; however, each county, city, and town
shall be limited to a total of three enterprise zones. One enterprise zone in
any county, city or town may consist of two noncontiguous zone areas; however,
a joint enterprise zone formed between any county with a population between
45,800 and 45,900 and any county with a population between 32,300 and 32,400,
with the population of each such county being determined as reported in the
1990 census of the population of the United States, may consist of the joint
zone area and one additional noncontiguous zone area in each of the adjacent
jurisdictions that submitted the application for the joint enterprise zone. The
size of the enterprise zone shall consist of the total of the two noncontiguous
zone areas. The two noncontiguous zone areas shall not be considered as
separate zones for the purpose of calculating the maximum number of zone designations
established by this chapter. Any such area shall consist of contiguous United
States census tracts or block groups or any part thereof in accordance with the
most current United States Census or with the most current data from the Center
for Public Service or the local planning district commission. Any such area
seeking designation as an enterprise zone shall also meet at least one of the
following criteria: (i) have twenty-five percent or more of the population with
incomes below eighty percent of the median income of the jurisdiction, (ii)
have an unemployment rate 1.5 times the state average, or (iii) have a
demonstrated floor area vacancy rate of industrial and/or commercial properties
of twenty percent or more.
C. Five of the areas designated as enterprise zones on or after July 1, 1999, shall be located in localities that (i) have annual average unemployment rates for the most recent calendar year that are fifty percent higher than the final statewide average unemployment rate for the most recent calendar year or (ii) are within planning districts that have annual average unemployment rates for the most recent calendar year that are at least one percent greater than the final annual statewide average for the most recent calendar year. No area shall be designated as an enterprise zone pursuant to this subsection unless it also meets all the other eligibility criteria established pursuant to this chapter.