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1996 SESSION
961410613Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 3.01, 3.02, 3.03, 3.04 and 4.01 as amended, § 4.05, § 4.10 as amended, §§ 4.11 and 6.08, §§ 6.09, 6.10, 7A.05, 17.06, 17.11 and 17.14 as amended and § 17.28 of Chapter 116 of the Acts of Assembly of 1948 are amended and reenacted and that Chapter 116 is amended by adding sections numbered 4.03.1 and 4.03.2 as follows:
§ 3.01. Election of mayor and council members.
On the first Tuesday in May, nineteen hundred seventy-eight
1978, and on the first Tuesday in May in every second year
thereafter there shall be held a general city election at which shall be
elected by the qualified voters of the city one member of council from each of
the nine election districts in the city, the voters residing in each such
district to elect one member for said district for terms of two years from the
first day of July following their election. In addition,
commencing with the general election to be held in November, 1996,
the qualified voters of the city at large shall elect a mayor to serve a term
beginning the first day of January following the general election and ending
July 1, 1998. Commencing with the general city election to be held
in May, 1998, and every second year thereafter, the
qualified voters of the city at large shall elect a mayor for a term of two
years from the first day of July following the general
election.
§ 3.02. Nomination of candidates for mayor and council members.
No primary election shall be held for the nomination of candidates for the
office offices of mayor and
councilman, and candidates shall be nominated only by petition.
There shall be printed on the ballots used in the election of councilmen
in each election district the names of all candidates who have been nominated
for election in such district by petition and the filing of a notice of
candidacy as provided herein and no others. The requirements for nomination
shall be:
(a) Any qualified voter of the city may be nominated for election as
councilman for the district in which he resides by filing, not later than the
time fixed for the closing of the polls on the first Tuesday in March, with the
clerk of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, Division I, a petition
signed by not less than one hundred twenty-five qualified voters of the
district in which such candidate resides and for which he seeks election, each
signature to which has been witnessed by a person whose affidavit to that
effect is attached thereto, together with a notice of candidacy required by the
general laws of the Commonwealth relating to elections.
(b) The petition shall state the name and street address of the residence
of the person whose name is presented thereby as a candidate, and the street
address of the residence of the persons signing the same. The
requirements and procedures for the qualification and nomination of candidates
shall be in accordance with the applicable provisions of
Articles 1 and 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 24.2 of the Code
of Virginia.
§ 3.03. Conduct of general municipal election.
The ballots used in each district in the election of the
mayor and councilmen shall be without any
distinguishing mark or symbol. Each qualified voter shall be entitled to cast
one vote for one person to serve as councilman for the district in which such
voter resides, and one vote for one person to serve as
mayor, and no more. In counting the vote any
ballot found to have been voted for more than one person shall be void. The
candidate receiving the highest number of votes cast in such election in each
district shall be declared elected. The general laws of the Commonwealth
relating to the conduct of elections, so far as pertinent, shall apply to the
conduct of the general municipal election.
§ 3.04. Vacancies in office of mayor and councilman.
Vacancies in the office offices of mayor
or councilman, from whatever cause arising, shall
be filled for the unexpired portion of the term by majority vote of the
remaining members of the council or, if the council shall fail to fill a
vacancy in its membership within thirty days of the occurrence of the vacancy,
by appointment by the chief judge of the circuit court of the city of Richmond.
§ 4.01. Composition; compensation; appointment of members to office of profit.
The council shall consist of the mayor and also nine members elected by district, as provided in Chapter 3. Compensation of members of council shall be fixed in accordance with and within the limits prescribed in general laws of the Commonwealth for pay and expenses of councils and mayors of cities of the Commonwealth. The members of the council, subject to the approval of the council, may also be allowed their reasonable actual expenses incurred in representing the city. No member of the council shall during the term of which he was elected and one year thereafter be appointed to any office of profit under the government of the city.
§ 4.03.1. Mayor.
The mayor shall be elected as provided in Chapter 3 of this charter. The mayor shall be the chief elected officer of the City of Richmond. The mayor shall represent the city in inter-governmental relations, shall deliver an annual State of the City address and shall work with the council to develop and promote the optimal policy agenda for the city. The mayor shall be recognized as the head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes, the purposes of military law and the service of civil process.
The mayor shall preside over all meetings of the council and shall be considered a member of the council. The mayor shall have the same right to speak, introduce legislation, and serve on committees as all other members of the council. The mayor shall have no right to vote except in the case of a tie. The mayor shall not have the power of veto.
§ 4.03.2. Vice-mayor.
The vice-mayor shall be a council member and shall be elected by a majority vote of the members of council at the first meeting of each newly elected council. The vice-mayor shall in the temporary absence or disability of the mayor perform the duties of mayor but shall at all times retain the full voting privileges of a member of council. If a vacancy shall occur in the office of vice-mayor, the council shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired term by majority vote of the remaining members of council.
§ 4.05. Induction of Members.
The first meeting of a newly elected council shall take place in the council
chamber in the city hall at ten o'clock A.M. on the first day of July following
their election, or if such day shall fall on Sunday then on the following
Monday, provided that the council first elected under this charter shall hold
its first meeting on the first Tuesday in September 1948. It shall be called to
order by the city clerk who shall administer the oath of office to the duly
elected members. In the absence of the city clerk, the meeting may
be called to order and the oath administered by any judicial officer having
jurisdiction in the city. The council shall be the judge of the election and
qualifications of its members but the decision of the council in this matter
shall be subject to review by the hustings court Circuit Court
of the city of Richmond. The first business of the council shall be the
election of a mayor and vice-mayor and the adoption of rules of
procedure. Until this business has been completed, the council
shall not adjourn for a period longer than forty-eight hours.
§ 4.10. Procedure for passing ordinances.
An ordinance may be introduced by any member or committee of the council or by
the city manager at any regular meeting of the council or at any special
meeting when the subject thereof has been included in the notice for such
special meeting or has been approved by the unanimous consent of all the
members of the council. Upon introduction it shall receive its first reading
and a time, not less than seven days after such introduction, and place shall
be set at which the council or a committee thereof will hold a public hearing
on such ordinance, provided that the council may reject any ordinance on first
reading without a hearing thereon by vote of six members. The hearing may be
held separately or in connection with a regular or special meeting of the
council and may be adjourned from time to time. It shall be the duty of the
city clerk to cause to be published printed in a
daily newspaper of published or in general
circulation published in the city, not later than the fifth day
before the public hearing on the proposed ordinance a notice containing the
time and place of the hearing and the title of the proposed ordinance. It
shall also be his duty not later than the fifth day before the public hearing
to cause its full text to be printed or otherwise reproduced, as the council
may by resolution direct, in sufficient numbers to supply copies to those who
individually request them, or, if the council shall so order to cause the same
to be published printed as a paid advertisement in a
newspaper of published or in general circulation
published in the city. It shall further be his duty to place a copy
of the ordinance in a file provided each member of the council for this
purpose. A proposed ordinance, unless it be an emergency ordinance, shall be
read a second time and may be finally passed at a regular meeting of the
council following the introduction of the ordinance and after the conclusion of
the public hearing thereon. If on its second reading an ordinance, other than
an emergency ordinance, be amended as to its substance it shall not be passed
until it shall be reprinted, reproduced or published as amended and a hearing
shall be set and advertised and all proceedings had as in the case of a newly
introduced ordinance.
§ 4.11. Emergency Ordinances.
An emergency ordinance for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health and safety may be read a second time and passed with or without
amendment at any regular or special meeting subsequent to the meeting at which
the ordinance was introduced, provided that prior to its passage the full text
of the original ordinance has been published printed in a
daily newspaper of published or in general
circulation published in the city. An emergency ordinance must
contain a specific statement of the emergency claimed and six affirmative votes
shall be necessary for its adoption.
§ 6.08. Distribution of copies of budget message and budgets..
The city manager shall cause the budget message to be printed, mimeographed or
otherwise reproduced for general distribution at the time of its submission to
the council and sufficient copies of the general fund, school and utility
budgets to be made to supply copies to each member of the council and each
daily newspaper of published or in general
circulation published in the city and two copies to be deposited in
the office of the city clerk where they shall be open to public inspection
during regular business hours.
§ 6.09. Public Hearings.
A public hearing on the budget plan as a whole shall be held by the council
within the time and after the notice provided for hearings on ordinances by
section 4.10 of this charter, except that the notice of such hearing shall be
published printed in a daily
newspaper of published or in general circulation
published in the city.
§ 6.10. Action by council on general fund budget generally.
After the conclusion of the public hearing, the council may insert
new items of expenditure or may increase, decrease or strike out items of
expenditure in the general fund budget, except that no item of expenditure for
debt service or required to be included by this charter or other provision of
law shall be reduced or stricken out. The council shall not alter the estimates
of receipts contained in the said budget except to correct ommissions
omissions or mathematical errors and it shall not cause the
total of expenditures as recommended by the manager to be increased without a
public hearing on such increase, which shall be held not less than five days
after notice thereof by publication printing in a
daily newspaper of published or in general
circulation published in the city. The council shall in no event
adopt a general fund budget in which the total of expenditures
exceeds the receipts, estimated as provided in section 6.04, unless at the same
time it adopts measures for providing additional revenue in the ensuing fiscal
year, estimated as provided in section 6.05, sufficient to make up this
difference.
§ 7A.05. Procedures for passing ordinances authorizing the issuance of bonds or notes.
(a) The procedure for the passage of an ordinance authorizing the issuance of
bonds shall be the same as for the passage of any other ordinance, except that
no such ordinance shall be passed as an emergency ordinance and that six
affirmative votes shall be necessary for its adoption. No such ordinance shall
take effect until the thirty-first day after publication of notice of its
adoption as hereinafter provided; provided, however, an amendatory
ordinance, the purpose of which is to provide that a portion of the bonds
authorized in the ordinance to be amended may be sold in a year or years
subsequent to the year in which such amendatory ordinance is adopted, may be
effective as provided in such amendatory ordinance and shall not be subject to
the requirement of publication of notice of adoption as hereinafter provided,
nor shall such amendatory ordinance be subject to the provisions of §
7A.07 of this Chartercharter concerning petition for
referendum on ordinances authorizing the issuance of bonds. Within ten days
after the passage of an ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds, other than
an amendatory ordinance for the purpose specifically provided above, the city
clerk shall cause notice of the adoption of such ordinance to be published
printed once in a daily newspaper of
published or in general circulation published in
the city. Such notice shall include a statement that the thirty-day period of
limitation within which a suit, action or proceeding questioning the validity
of such ordinance may be brought shall have commenced as of the date of such
publication.
(b) The procedure for the passage of an ordinance authorizing the issuance of
notes shall be the same as for the passage of any other ordinance, except that
no such ordinance shall be passed as an emergency ordinance and that six
affirmative votes shall be necessary for its adoption. An ordinance
authorizing the issuance of notes shall not be subject to the requirement of
publication of notice of adoption as hereinabove provided, nor shall such
ordinance be subject to the provisions of § 7A.07 of this
Chartercharter concerning petition for referendum. Such
ordinance shall be effective immediately unless otherwise provided by the
City Councilcity council in such ordinance.
§ 17.06. Adoption of master plan by commission and approval by council.
The commission may adopt the master plan as a whole by a single resolution or
may by successive resolutions adopt successive parts of the plan, said parts
corresponding to major geographical sections or geographical or topographical
divisions of the city 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 daily newspaper of published or in
general circulation published in the city. 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. Neither the master plan nor any part, amendment,
extension or addition thereto shall become effective until the action of the
commission with respect thereto set out in the resolution shall have been
approved by the council by ordinance or resolution. Upon the approval of the
action of the commission by the council, an attested copy of the resolution
adopted by the commission 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 thereby adopted, together with the ordinance or resolution
adopted by the council shall be certified to the clerk of the circuit court,
Division I and Division II, of the city who shall file the same in his
respective offices, and shall index the same in the deed index book in the name
of the city and under the title: master plan Master Plan
of the cityCity.
§ 17.11. Uniformity of regulations within a district; special use permits.
(a) The regulations and restrictions shall be uniform and shall apply equally
to all land, buildings, and structures and to the use and to each class or kind
thereof throughout each district; provided, however, the regulations
and restrictions applicable in one district may differ from those provided for
other districts.
(a1) The council may, by ordinance adopted after holding one or more public hearings concerning same, establish design overlay districts, providing for such design overlay districts, a design review process applicable to exterior changes within view from public right-of-ways in order to protect developed areas of the city which are characterized by uniqueness of established neighborhood character, architectural coherence and harmony, or vulnerability to deterioration, and council may assess a reasonable fee, not exceeding the actual cost of the review process, for a determination if proposed new construction, alterations, rehabilitation, or demolition conforms to general guidelines for a particular design overlay district established by the planning commission and urban design committee after holding a public hearing.
(b) The council shall have the power to authorize by ordinance adopted by not
less than six affirmative votes the use of land, buildings, and structures in a
district that does not conform to the regulations and restrictions prescribed
for that district and to authorize the issuance of special use permits
therefor, whenever it is made to appear that such special use will not be
detrimental to the safety, health, morals and general welfare of the community
involved, will not tend to create congestion in streets, roads, alleys and
other public ways and places in the area involved, will not create hazards from
fire, panic or other dangers, will not tend to overcrowding of land and cause
an undue concentration of population, will not adversely affect or interfere
with public or private schools, parks, playgrounds, water supplies, sewage
disposal, transportation or other public requirements, conveniences and
improvements, and will not interfere with adequate light and air. No such
ordinance shall be adopted until (1) the ordinance has been referred to the
city planning commission for investigation of the circumstances and conditions
upon which the council is empowered to authorize such use and until the
commission has reported to the council the results of such investigation and
its recommendations with respect thereto, and (2) until after a public hearing
in relation to such ordinance is held by the council at which the persons in
interest and all other persons shall have an opportunity to be heard. At
least fifteen days' notice Notice of the time and place of
such hearing shall be given by publication thereof in a daily newspaper of
general circulation published in the city in accordance with general
law. The council shall have the power to require such other
greater notice as it may deem expedient. The city planning
commission may recommend and the council may impose such conditions upon the
use of the land, buildings and structures as will, in its opinion, protect the
community and area involved and the public from adverse effects and detriments
that may result therefrom.
§ 17.14. Adoption and amendment of zoning regulations and restrictions and determination of district boundaries.
Subject to the other provisions of this chapter, the council shall have power by ordinance to adopt the regulations and restrictions hereinbefore described and determine the boundaries of the districts in which they shall apply, provide for their enforcement, and from time to time amend, supplement or repeal the same. The council shall also have authority to provide for the collection of fees to cover costs involved in the consideration of any request for amendment, supplement or repeal of any such regulation, restriction or determination of boundaries, to be paid to the department of planning and community development by the applicant upon filing such request. No such ordinance shall be adopted until:
(a) The ordinance has been referred to the Citycity
planning commission and approved by it, subject to overrule by the council, as
provided in section 17.07; and
(b) After a public hearing in relation thereto shall be held by the council at which the parties in interest and other persons shall have an opportunity to be heard.
At least fifteen days' notice Notice of the time and
place of such hearing shall be given by publication thereof in a daily
newspaper of general circulation published in the City in accordance
with general law.
The procedures set forth in this section shall also apply to the adoption,
amendment and repeal of historic district boundaries. All historic districts
previously adopted by City Councilcity council, except
for the Church Hill North district adopted by Ordinance no. 90-197-194 and
repealed by Ordinance no. 90-242-314, shall remain in full force and effect,
shall be deemed to have been in continuous existence, and shall not henceforth
be declared invalid by reason of a failure to follow the procedures set forth
herein applicable to zoning districts.
§ 17.28. Hearings on subdivision ordinance.
The council shall not adopt or amend any ordinance establishing such
regulations and restrictions until notice of intention so to do has been
published printed once a week for two successive weeks in
a daily newspaper of published or in general
circulation published in the city. The notice shall specify the
time, not less than ten days after final publication, and the place at which
persons affected may appear before the council and present their views.
2. That, effective January 1, 1997, § 4.03 of Chapter 116 of the Acts of Assembly of 1948 is repealed.
3. That §§ 3.01, 3.02, 3.03, 3.04, 4.01, 4.03.1, 4.03.2 and 4.05 of the act shall be enforced only as necessary to permit the election of the mayor on an at large basis commencing with the November, 1996 general election and to permit such mayor to take office on January 1, 1997, and that, until January 1, 1997, the organization and powers of the city council shall continue under the provisions existing prior to the effective date of this act.