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2017 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Local Government

Chairman: William M. Stanley, Jr.

Clerk: John Garrett, Alex Elwood
Staff: Jeffrey Sharp, David Barry
Date of Meeting: February 14, 2017
Time and Place: 1/2 Hour after Adjournment of Senate Senate Room B, GAB
Added HB 2000

H.B. 1396

Patron: Landes

Charter; Town of Grottoes. Authorizes the town council to appoint a member to the office of vice-mayor, to serve in the event of the mayor's absence or inability to act.

H.B. 1457

Patron: Cole

Part-timedeputies; compensation. Includes like rank and experience as a factor in setting the maximum allowable hourly equivalent compensation paid to part-time deputy sheriffs performing like duties of full-time deputy sheriffs.

H.B. 1461

Patron: Dudenhefer

Charter; Town of Quantico; town officers. Removes the town treasurer, town clerk, and town sergeant as officers of the town elected by the town council.

H.B. 1486

Patron: Albo

Arts and cultural districts. Provides that arts and cultural districts may be created jointly by two or more localities.

H.B. 1570

Patron: Farrell

Local industrial development authority; Louisa County airports. Authorizes Louisa County, by ordinance, to empower a local industrial development authority to acquire, own, operate, and regulate the use of airports and related facilities. The bill authorizes Louisa County to appoint members of the board of directors of the local industrial development authority to serve for terms coincident with the term of its supervisors.

H.B. 1597

Patron: Webert

Local stormwater management utility; waiver of charges; stormwater retained on site. Requires any locality establishing a stormwater management utility to provide a full or partial waiver of charges for a person whose approved stormwater management plan indicates that the stormwater produced by his property is retained and treated on site.

H.B. 1686

Patron: Hodges

Planning district commissions; Indian tribes; membership. Permits certain Indian tribes recognized by the federal government to join planning district commissions as members and to negotiate the terms of such membership.

H.B. 1697

Patron: Marshall, D.W.

Extension of approvals to address housing crisis. Extends the sunset date for several measures related to various land use approvals from July 1, 2017, to July 1, 2020. The bill also expands the scope of such measures that will be subject to the extension to include those measures approved by January 1, 2017.

H.B. 1729

Patron: Ransone

Charter; Town of Port Royal. Provides that the terms for council and mayor shall begin in January so as to reflect the town's change to November municipal elections.

H.B. 1797

Patron: Stolle

Amendment of proffers; notice. Provides that when any landowner applies to the governing body for amendments to proffered conditions, direct mail notice shall be given to those directly affected by the amendment.

H.B. 1820

Patron: Hope

Real property tax; board of equalization in certain counties. Requires that the board of equalization of real estate assessments in any county having the county manager plan of government (Arlington County) be composed of an odd number of not less than three nor more than 11 members, as determined by the local governing body. The circuit court of the county shall appoint a number of members equal to the lowest number that constitutes a majority of members, and the governing body shall appoint the remainder.

H.B. 1936

Patron: Carr

Derelict and blighted buildings; land banks; receivership. Authorizes a locality to petition the circuit court to appoint a land bank entity to act as a receiver in certain limited circumstances to repair derelict and blighted buildings that contains residential dwelling units.

H.B. 1958

Patron: Ingram

Charter; County of Chesterfield. Corrects or repeals numerous outdated provisions and makes technical amendments to the County of Chesterfield charter. Other changes include (i) eliminating provisions relating to the departments of budget and management, accounting, and fire and replacing a listing of these and other county departments with a general statement that provides, in part, that the board of supervisors, in consultation with the county administrator, may create or abolish existing departments; (ii) eliminating various requirements related to appointment of a committee on the future and replacing it with an authorization to appoint committees as the board deems advisable; and (iii) providing that once a public facility has been determined to be in substantial accord with the county's comprehensive plan or is shown on the public facilities plan, then additional property for such facility may be added without submittal and approval and that "small cell" telecommunications facilities shall be exempt from certain requirements for substantial accord approval if the facilities are located within a zoning district where such use is either permitted by right or permitted with restrictions.

H.B. 1970

Patron: Landes

Creation of economic revitalization zones in counties. Grants counties authority to create economic revitalization zones. The zones shall be for the purpose of providing incentives to private entities to purchase real property and interests in real property to assemble parcels suitable for economic development. Each county establishing an economic revitalization zone may grant incentives and provide regulatory flexibility. This authority currently exists for cities.

H.B. 1973

Patron: O'Quinn

Economic Development Access Program; bonded projects.Imposes a 48-month moratorium on the repayment of funds allocated to a locality for a bonded project pursuant to the Economic Development Access Program. The bill contains an emergency clause.

EMERGENCY

H.B. 1977

Patron: Mullin

Charter; City of Williamsburg. Expands membership on the redevelopment and housing authority from five members to up to seven members, no more than five of whom shall be members of the city council.

H.B. 1992

Patron: Habeeb

Lien priority. Inserts "real estate" in several places related to the priority of tax liens so that the operative language now reads "on a parity with liens for unpaid local real estate taxes."

H.B. 1994

Patron: Habeeb

Board of zoning appeals. Clarifies that provisions that currently state that appeal costs may not be awarded against the locality unless it appears to the court that the locality acted in bad faith also apply to the governing body.

H.B. 2000

Patron: Poindexter

Sanctuary policies prohibited. Provides that no locality shall adopt any ordinance, procedure, or policy that restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.

H.B. 2003

Patron: Poindexter

Comparative report of local government revenues and expenditures. Provides that the submittal of the comparative report by a locality to the Auditor of Public Accounts shall include a notarized statement from the chief elected official and the chief administrative officer of the locality that the locality's audited financial report has been presented to the local governing body.

H.B. 2055

Patron: Hodges

Rural Coastal Virginia Community Enhancement Authority. Establishes the Rural Coastal Virginia Community Enhancement Authority, consisting of the 12 counties within the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, and Accomack-Northampton planning districts. The Authority is created for the purpose of serving as a regional economic development body and represents a partnership of the Commonwealth, the planning districts, and the 12 counties of the coastal region. The Authority shall be governed by a 15-member board. The Authority may seek and approve loans and solicit donations, grants, and any other funding from the Commonwealth, the federal government, and regional, local government, and private entities to carry out its purposes, powers and duties. Also, the Authority will (i) assist the region in obtaining necessary job training or employment-related education, leadership and civic development, and business development, especially entrepreneurship for the coastal region; (ii) provide special assistance to distressed and underdeveloped counties within the coastal region; and (iii) fund demonstration projects, and conduct research, evaluations, and assessments of the coastal region's assets and needs.

H.B. 2067

Patron: Mullin

Decertification of law-enforcement officers; notification. Requires persons obligated to notify the Criminal Justice Services Board (CJSB) when a law-enforcement officer or jail officer has committed an act or been convicted of a crime that requires decertification to notify CJSB within 48 hours of becoming aware of such act or conviction. The bill requires that, upon such notification, decertification be immediate.

H.B. 2152

Patron: Aird

Charter; City of Hopewell; water renewal commission. Changes the membership of the Hopewell Water Renewal Commission (the Commission) from a total of eight members appointed by the city council, five of whom are nominees of five manufacturers, to up to nine members, three of whom shall be a member of the city council, the city manager, and the city attorney, and the remainder of whom shall be appointed by the city council from nominees each submitted by a manufacturer who shall provide a capital contribution in an amount determined by the city council.. The bill removes the city council's authority to provide for additional nominees to the Commission by manufacturers not involved in planning assistance and requires the Commission to assist in the maintenance and expansion of the city's regional wastewater treatment facility.

H.B. 2154

Patron: Rasoul

Running bamboo; cutting by localities; ordinance prohibiting spread; designation of certain plants as noxious weeds. Authorizes any locality to adopt ordinances requiring proper upkeep of running bamboo and prohibiting the spread of running bamboo from a landowner's property, with violations punishable by a civil penalty of $50. The bill includes running bamboo in the "other foreign growth" that current law allows localities to regulate and in some cases to cut. The bill also directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) to develop a model running bamboo ordinance and, with the Department of Forestry, to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding that clarifies the roles of the VDACS noxious weeds regulations and the work of the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group. Finally, the bill directs VDACS and DCR to examine the eligibility of certain plants for designation as noxious weeds. .

H.B. 2168

Patron: Pillion

Virginia Coal Train Heritage Authority. Creates the Virginia Coal Train Heritage Authority (the Authority) with rights and powers to be exercised by a 25-member board, which will consist of three representatives from the governing body of each of the Counties of Dickenson, Russell, and Wise; two citizen members from each of those three counties; one citizen member from each of the Towns of Clinchco, Haysi, and St. Paul; three commissioners of the Breaks Interstate Park Commission; two citizen members with experience in the excursion train business; and two members of the General Assembly. The Authority's powers are similar to those that other authorities possess. The bill authorizes the Authority to cooperate with any private or governmental entity in the state of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, or North Carolina in the development of a tourist train and exempts any train operator that has entered into a public-private partnership contract with the Authority from liability for personal injury or wrongful death except in the case of gross negligence or an intentional tort.

H.B. 2313

Patron: Ransone

Removal of courthouse. Provides that in the case of the removal of a county courthouse that is not located in a city or town, and is not being relocated to a city or town, such removal shall not require a petition or approval by the voters.

H.B. 2351

Patron: Morefield

Unoccupied property; grass cutting; Buchanan County. Authorizes Buchanan County, by ordinance, to require owners of unoccupied or abandoned property to cut grass on the property or to cut grass on the property and charge the owner for the service.

H.B. 2442

Patron: Ingram

Local collection fees. Provides that an ordinance for collection of overdue accounts may also provide for the imposition of collection and administrative fees, not to exceed the amount provided for in § 58.1-3958.

H.B. 2449

Patron: Knight

Term limits; certain public bodies in City of Chesapeake. Provides that members of the Chesapeake Economic Development Authority, Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Chesapeake Airport Authority shall be limited to two terms and that members of the Chesapeake Hospital Authority shall be limited to three terms .

H.B. 2464

Patron: Aird

Charter; City of Petersburg. Updates and reorganizes the city's charter. Obsolete provisions are either repealed or updated, and numerous technical amendments are made.

H.B. 2469

Patron: Jones

Zoning; delinquent charges. Provides that the local treasurer may give authorization in an instance where a land use applicant is required to first provide satisfactory evidence that various taxes or charges have been paid.