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2014 SESSION
14103763DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 1-1 and 1-2, § 2-1, as amended, § 2-420, § 3-2, as amended, § 3-401, § 3-5, as amended, and §§ 3-9, 4-11, 6-1, 6-11, 6-12, 6-131, 6-133, 6-14, 6-15, 6-23, 6-231, 6-234, and 7-6 of Chapter 358 of the Acts of Assembly of 1958 are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 1-1. Incorporation.
The inhabitants of the territory embraced within the present limits of the Town of Tazewell as hereinafter defined, or as the same hereafter may be altered or established by law, shall constitute and continue to be a body politic and corporate, to be known and designated as the Town of Tazewell (hereinafter "Town"), and as such have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with, and may have a corporate seal which it may alter, renew, or amend at its pleasure, and shall have and exercise all the powers conferred by, and be subject to all the laws of the State of Virginia for the government of towns of the State of Virginia.
§ 1-2. Form of government.
The municipal government provided by this charter shall be known as the "Town Manager Comprehensive Plan." Pursuant to its provisions, and subject to the constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth, all powers of the town shall be vested in an elected council hereinafter referred to as the "Council," which shall enact local legislation, adopt budgets, determine policies and appoint the town manager, who shall execute the laws and administer the government of the town.
§ 1-3. Boundaries.
The boundaries of the town shall be as established by Chapter
78 of the Acts of Assembly of 1916, approved February
29, 1916, as follows:
"Beginning at a station
one, the northwest corner of Mistress R. B. Gillespie's old seminary lot;
thence crossing the turnpike east of the town of Tazewell to a station two, on
the north side of said turnpike, southwest corner of T. G. Witten's land, and
also corner of the Tazewell Courthouse Improvement Company's plat of lots;
thence with said company's lines north thirty-three degrees three minutes west,
four hundred and seven and four-tenths feet, to station three; north fifty-eight
degrees twenty-seven minutes east, thirty-six feet, to station four; north
seventy-eight degrees east, four hundred twenty-four and nine-tenths feet, to
station five; north thirteen degrees west one thousand eight hundred and
seventeen feet, to station six; north eighty-four degrees west seven hundred
and fifty feet, to station seven; north thirteen degrees forty-two minutes west
fifty-three feet, to station eight; thence north eighty-five degrees fifty-two
minutes west, one hundred and ninety-one feet, to station nine, southwest
corner of lot seven, section thirty-three on said plat of lots; thence south
four degrees forty-eight minutes west, seventy-five feet, to station ten,
thence north eighty-five degrees fifty-two minutes west, one thousand two
hundred and seventy-five feet, to station eleven, the northwest corner of lot
one, section seven, of said plat of lots; thence north nine degrees fourteen
minutes west, one thousand one hundred and forty-two feet, to station twelve in
a former line of the corporate limits of said town; thence with said old line
north fifty-eight degrees west, three hundred feet, to station thirteen on the
east side of the old road leading to Tazewell station, and with the east side
of same south thirty-three degrees west, ten poles and nine links, to station
fourteen; south eighty-seven degrees west, eighteen poles and seven links, to
station fifteen; south seventy-seven degrees west, three poles and sixteen
links, to station sixteen; south forty-nine degrees thirty minutes west, five
poles to station seventeen; south twenty-two degrees forty-five minutes west,
five poles and eight links, to station eighteen, south thirteen degrees and
thirty minutes east, ten poles and sixteen links, to station nineteen; thence
north eighty-two degrees thirty minutes west, twenty-eight poles, crossing said
road to station twenty; thence south eleven degrees east, forty-eight poles and
ten links, to station twenty-one; thence south fifty-four degrees and thirty
minutes east, thirty-seven poles, to station twenty-two on the west side of
said old road, eight feet west of J. S. and A. P. Gillespie's gate post; thence
south sixty-one degrees fifty-three minutes west, thirty poles and seven links,
to station twenty-three; thence north eighty-two degrees fifteen minutes west,
thirty-six poles and twenty-one links, to station twenty-four, at a gateway on
said Gillespie's private road; thence south sixty-seven degrees west,
thirty-six poles and three links, to station twenty-five; thence south thirty-eight
degrees east, thirty poles and fifteen links, to station twenty-six on the
north edge of the turnpike west, of the said town; thence with north side of
same, south sixty-six degrees thirty minutes west, six poles and twenty-three
links to station twenty-seven; south fifty-seven degrees forty-five minutes
west, twenty-six poles and eleven links, to station twenty-eight; south
sixty-eight degrees thirty minutes west, twenty poles and six links, to station
twenty nine on H. G. Peery's line; thence crossing said turnpike south thirty
degrees fifteen minutes east, seventy-three poles, to station thirty; thence
south seven degrees, east one hundred poles to station thirty-one; south
eighty-five degrees east, twenty-six poles to station thirty-two; thence south
seventy-four degrees fifteen minutes east, twenty poles, to station
thirty-three; thence south seventy-six degrees thirty minutes east,
thirty-seven poles and fifteen links, to station thirty-four; north thirty-six
degrees forty-five minutes east, thirty poles, to station thirty-five; thence
south twenty-one degrees east, twenty-seven poles, to station thirty-six;
thence south one degree thirty minutes west, twenty-one poles, to station
thirty-seven; thence north eighty degrees thirty minutes east, one hundred and
twenty-nine poles, to station thirty-eight, in line between A. J. May and S. D.
May; thence north seventy degrees east, one hundred and thirty-eight poles, to
station thirty-nine, in line between S. D. May and A. J. May, junior; thence
north thirty-five degrees west, seventy-seven poles to station forty, on south
edge of W. O. Whitman's road; thence with south side of said road south
seventy-seven degrees forty-five minutes west, fifty-three poles and three
links, to station forty-one, opposite Amy Smith's southwest corner; thence
north eleven degrees and thirty minutes west, thirteen poles and five links, to
station forty-two; thence north seventy-five degrees thirty minutes east,
sixteen poles and thirteen links, to station forty-three; thence north forty
degrees thirty minutes west, nineteen poles, to station forty-four; thence
north sixty-six degrees thirty minutes east, thirty-seven poles and seven
links, to station forty-five; thence north seventy-one degrees east,
sixty-eight poles, to station forty-six, in W. O. Whitman's line; thence north
twenty-two degrees forty-five minutes west, forty-three poles, to station
forty-seven; south fifty-seven degrees west, thirty-two poles, to station
forty-eight; thence north thirty-four degrees west, one hundred and six poles,
to station forty-nine, on the south side of the turnpike east, of said town;
thence with south side of said turnpike south sixty-three degrees fifteen
minutes west, eight poles to station fifty; thence south forty-nine degrees west,
seven poles to the beginning." and as
subsequently amended and recorded in the records of the Circuit
Court of Tazewell County.
§ 2-1. General grant of powers.
The powers set forth in §§ 15.1-837 15.2-1100 through 15.1-915 15.2-1133,
inclusive, of Chapter 18 11 of Title 15.1 15.2
of the Code of Virginia as in force on January 1,
1966, as amended,
are hereby conferred on and vested in the Town of Tazewell, Virginia, together
with all other powers which are now or may hereafter be conferred upon or
delegated to towns under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth, and all
other powers pertinent to the town government the exercise of which is not in
conflict with the said Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth of
Virginia, and which, in the opinion of the council are necessary or desirable
to promote the general welfare of the town and the safety, health, peace, good
order, comfort, convenience, and morals of its inhabitants as fully and
completely as though such powers were specifically enumerated in this charter,
and no enumeration of particular powers in this charter shall be held to be
exclusive but shall be held to be in addition to this general grant of powers.
§ 2-420. To provide for the protection of the town's property,
real and personal, the prevention of the pollution of the town's water supply,
and the regulation of the use of parks, playgrounds, playfields, recreational
facilities, cemeteries, airports and other public property, whether located
within or without the town. For the purpose of enforcing such regulations all
town property wherever located shall be under the police jurisdiction of the
town. Any member of the police force of the town, or employee thereof appointed
as a special policeman, shall have power to make arrests for violation of any
ordinance, rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this section, and the police
justice shall have jurisdiction in all cases arising thereunder within the town
and the county court of the county wherein the offense occurs shall have
jurisdiction of all cases arising thereunder without the town General District Court shall have jurisdiction in
all cases arising thereunder within or without the Town wherein the offense
occurs.
§ 3-2. Nominations and elections.
The mayor and members of council in office on the effective
date of this act shall serve until their successors have been elected and
qualified. Municipal elections within the Town of Tazewell shall take place on
the first Tuesday in May after the first Monday in the month of November
of each even-numbered year to coincide with the general
election. At each such regular municipal election, three
councilmen shall be elected for terms of four years each, and a mayor shall be
elected for a term of two years. The terms of office for both councilmen and
mayor so elected shall commence on the first day of July January,
immediately following such election, and shall continue until their successors
have been elected and qualified. The council shall be a continuing body and no
measure pending before such body shall abate or be discontinued by reason of
expiration of the term or removal of any of its members.
§ 3-401. Appoint and remove the town manager, the town clerk,
the town attorney, the police justice, issuing
justices and officers of the volunteer fire department.
§ 3-5. Mayor.
The mayor shall preside over the meetings of the council, have
the same right to speak therein as other members and shall vote only in case of
a tie but shall have no veto. He shall be recognized as the head of the town
government for all ceremonial purposes, the purposes of military law, and the
service of civil process. At the regular meeting of the council held in the
month of July January
following a municipal election, the council shall choose, by a majority vote of
all the members thereof, one of their number to be vice-mayor for the ensuing
two years. The vice-mayor shall in the absence or disability of the mayor
perform the duties of mayor, and if a vacancy shall occur in the office of
mayor, shall become mayor for the unexpired portion of the term. In the absence
or disability of both the mayor and vice-mayor the council shall, by majority
vote of those present, choose one of their number to perform the duties of
mayor.
§ 3-9. Appointees.
At the first meeting in September January following each
councilmanic election, or as soon thereafter as practicable,
the council shall appoint:
§ 4-11. The fiscal year of the town shall begin on the first
day of September July
and end on the thirty-first thirtieth day of August June
of the succeeding year.
§ 6-1. Power to adopt a master comprehensive plan.
In addition to the powers granted elsewhere in this charter
the council shall have the power to adopt by ordinance a master comprehensive plan for the
physical development of the town to promote health, safety, morals, comfort,
prosperity, and the general welfare. The master plan may include but shall not
be limited to the following:
§ 6-11. Town planning commission. There shall be a town
planning commission consisting of seven eight members, appointed by
the council. One member shall be a member of the council appointed for a term
concurrent with his term in the council. One member shall be the town manager, who shall be a nonvoting member,
appointed for a term concurrent with his term in such capacity. There shall be five six
citizen members, who shall be qualified voters of the town appointed for a term
of four years, one of whom may be a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals and who
shall hold office for a term concurrent with his term on said board. Members may be removed for malfeasance in office,
and a member of the commission may be removed from office by the Town without
limitation in the event that the commission member is absent from any three
consecutive meetings of the commission, or is absent from any four meetings of
the commission within any one-month
period. Vacancies on the commission shall be filled by the
council. Members of the town planning commission shall serve as such without
compensation.
§ 6-12. Organization and expenditures of planning commission.
The commission shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among the citizen
members appointed by the council, for a term of one year, who shall be eligible
for re-election, and appoint a secretary. The commission shall hold at least
one regular meeting in each month, shall adopt rules for the transaction of its
business, and shall keep a record of its resolutions, transactions, findings
and determinations, which record shall be a public record. Four Five voting members shall
constitute a quorum. The commission shall appoint such employees as it may deem
necessary for its work and may contract with city planners, engineers,
architects and other consultants for services it may require. All expenditures
shall not exceed the sums appropriated by the council therefor.
§ 6-131. To make and adopt a master comprehensive plan which with
accompanying maps, plats, charts and descriptive matter shall show the
commission's recommendations for the development of the territory covered by
the plan. In the preparation of such plan the commission shall make careful and
comprehensive surveys and studies of existing conditions and future growth. The
plan shall be made with the general purpose of guiding and accomplishing a
coordinated, adjusted and harmonious development of the town and its environs
which will, in accordance with existing and future needs, best promote health,
safety, morals, comfort, prosperity and general welfare, as well as efficiency
and economy in the process of development.
§ 6-133. To promote public interest in and understanding of
the master
comprehensive plan and to that end may publish and distribute
copies of the plan or of any report and may employ such other means of
publicity and education as it may determine.
§ 6-14. Adoption of master comprehensive plan by the
Commission. The Commission may adopt the plan as a whole by a single resolution
or may by successive resolutions adopt successive parts of the plan, said parts
corresponding to mayor major
geographical or topographical divisions of the town, or with functional
subdivisions of the subject matter of the plan, and may adopt any amendment or
extension thereof or addition thereto. Before the adoption of the plan or any
such part, amendment, extension or addition, the commission shall hold at least
one public hearing thereon, at least fifteen days' notice of the time and place
of which shall be given by one publication in a newspaper of general
circulation in the town. The adoption of the plan or of any such part,
amendment, extension or addition shall be by resolution of the commission
carried by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the entire
membership of the commission. The resolution shall refer expressly to the maps
and descriptive matter and other matter intended by the commission to form the
whole or part of the plan adopted, which resolution shall be signed by the chairman
of the commission and attested by its secretary. An attested copy of the
resolution, accompanied by a copy of so much of the plan in whole or in part as
was adopted thereby, and each amendment, alteration, extension or addition
thereto adopted thereby, shall be certified to the council, and to the Clerk of
the Circuit Court of Tazewell County who shall file the same in his office.
§ 6-15. Legal status of master comprehensive plan. Whenever
the commission shall have adopted a master comprehensive plan for the
town or one or more parts thereof, geographical, topographical or functional,
and the master
comprehensive plan or such part or parts thereof shall have
been approved by the council and it has been certified and filed as provided in
the preceding section, then and thereafter no street, square, park or other
public way, ground, open space, public building or structure shall be
constructed or authorized in the town or in the planned section or division
thereof until and unless the general location, character and extent thereof has
been submitted to and approved by the commission; and no public utility,
whether publicly or privately owned, shall be constructed or authorized in the
town or in the planned section or division thereof until and unless its general
location, but not its character and extent, has been submitted to and approved
by the commission, but such submission and approval shall not be necessary in
the case of pipes or conduits in any existing street or proposed street,
square, park or other public way, ground or open space, the location of which
has been approved by the commission; and no ordinance giving effect to or
amending the comprehensive zoning plan as provided in § 6-2 shall be adopted
until it has been submitted to and approved by the commission. In case of
disapproval in any of the instances enumerated above, the commission shall
communicate its reason to the council, which shall have the power to overrule
such action by a recorded vote of not less than two-thirds of its entire
membership. The failure of the commission to act within sixty days from the
date of the official submission to it shall be deemed approval. The widening,
extension, narrowing, enlargement, vacation or change in the use of streets and
other public ways, grounds and places within the town as well as the
acquisition by the town of any land within or without the town for public
purposes, or the sale of any land then held by the town shall be subject to
similar approval and in case the same is disapproved such disapproval may be
similarly overruled. The foregoing provisions of this section shall not be
deemed to apply to the pavement, repavement, reconstruction, improvement,
drainage or other work in or upon any existing street or other existing public
way.
§ 6-23. Board of Zoning Appeals. The council may appoint establish
a Board of Zoning Appeals, and in the members of which shall be
appointed by the judge of the Circuit
Court of Tazewell County. The
regulations and restrictions adopted pursuant to the authority of this act, may provide that the board of
zoning appeals may, in appropriate cases and subject to appropriate conditions
and safeguards, vary the application of the terms of the ordinance in harmony
with its general purpose and intent and in accordance with general or specific
rules therein contained.
§ 6-231. The board of zoning appeals shall consist of five members, one of whom may be a member of the Planning Commission, each of whom is to be appointed for a term of two years, and subject to removal for cause by the council, upon written charges and after public hearing. Vacancies shall be filled by the council for the unexpired term of any member.
§ 6-234. The board of zoning appeals shall fix a reasonable time and a reasonable appeal fee for the hearing of the appeal, give public notice thereof, as well as due notice to the parties in interest, and decide the same within a reasonable time. Upon the hearing any party may appear in person or by agent or attorney.
§ 7-6. Citation of act.
This act may for all purposes be referred to or cited as the Town of Tazewell Charter of 1958, as amended by the Acts of Assembly of 2014.
2. That §§ 3-94, 3-95, 5-1, and 5-11, § 5-12, as amended, and §§ 5-13 through 5-31 of Chapter 358 of the Acts of Assembly of 1958 are repealed.