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2018 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Local Government

Chairman: William M. Stanley, Jr.

Clerk: Chad Starzer
Staff: David Barry, Jeff Sharp
Date of Meeting: January 23, 2018
Time and Place: 1/2 Hour After Adjournment, Senate Room A, Pocahontas Building

S.B. 187

Patron: Favola

Zoning violation penalties. Increases the maximum fine for misdemeanor conviction of a zoning violation from $1,000 to $2,500. The bill also increases the maximum fine for failure to remove or abate the zoning violation after conviction from $1,500 to $2,500 for succeeding 10-day periods.

Impact Statements

S.B. 193

Patron: Locke

Disposable plastic shopping bags; local option. Allows any locality by ordinance to prohibit the distribution, sale, or offer for sale of disposable plastic shopping bags to consumers. The bill exempts from any such prohibition reusable bags of a certain thickness; bags that are used to carry certain products, such as ice cream or newspapers; and garbage bags that are sold in multiples.

Impact Statements

S.B. 200

Patron: Favola

Local government taxing authority. Equalizes municipal taxing authority and county taxing authority by granting a county the same authority available to a municipality through the uniform charter powers. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2019, prior which to the Division of Legislative Services is directed to convene a working group to develop recommendations as to what additional legislative changes are needed to effectuate the provisions of the bill.

Impact Statements

S.B. 242

Patron: Marsden

Park authority liability; immunity. Grants immunity from liability in any civil action to park authorities created pursuant to the Park Authorities Act (§ 15.2-5700 et seq.) for damages caused by ordinary negligence on the part of any officer or agent of such park authority in the maintenance or operation of any such park, recreational facility, or playground.

S.B. 256

Patron: Lewis

Charter; City of Norfolk; appointment of officers; record of ordinances; division of fire. Replaces a references to election of certain city officers with a reference to appointment of such officers and deletes a references to viva voce voting. The bill removes a provision requiring ordinances to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within 10 days after passage and outdated and duplicative provisions related to claims for property destroyed in a fire.

S.B. 355

Patron: McClellan

City of Richmond gas utility; service territory. Designates the areas that constitute the service territory of the City of Richmond's natural gas utility.

S.B. 397

Patron: Lewis

Hampton Roads Coastal Resiliency Authority. Creates the Hampton Roads Coastal Resiliency Authority (Authority) as a body politic and corporate, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. The Authority shall consist of all localities that make up the membership of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and is created for the purpose of serving as a regional leader, resource, and partner for all issues related to coastal flooding and resiliency.

S.B. 454

Patron: Mason

Inoperable vehicles; James City County. Authorizes James City County to prohibit any person from keeping, unless shielded or screened from view, on any property zoned or used for residential purposes, or on any property zoned for commercial or agricultural purposes, any inoperable motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer.

S.B. 594

Patron: Vogel

Charter; Town of Middleburg. Provides that the Middleburg town council may, notwithstanding any other provision of law, levy a tax on business personal property, as described in the Code of Virginia, without regard to the existence of, or rate of, tax on motor vehicles or any other classification of tangible personal property. The bill contains an emergency clause.

EMERGENCY

S.B. 667

Patron: Deeds

Regulation of attire at a public assembly. Authorizes a locality to pass an ordinance to regulate, restrict, or prohibit the wearing of any combination of attire or weaponry commonly associated with military combat, paramilitary operations, or warfare that gives the impression that the wearer is an on-duty member of the United States Armed Forces, an official law-enforcement agency, or the militia during any permitted assembly of persons or movement of persons or vehicles if such attire constitutes a threat to the public safety or welfare.

Impact Statements

S.B. 714

Patron: Chase

Local economic development expenditure. Provides that any local economic development expenditure shall be first approved by the local governing body.

Impact Statements

S.B. 733

Patron: Ebbin

Removal of certain monuments and memorials. Provides that for any monument or memorial erected prior to 1900, notwithstanding any Act of Assembly regarding the preservation of monuments or memorials enacted prior to 1900, the governing body of the locality in which the monument or memorial is located may remove the monument or memorial to be prominently displayed in an outdoor location on the grounds of a locality-owned history museum that is located within one-quarter mile of the existing site, provided that the governing body has affirmatively voted to relocate the monument or memorial. However, if the monument or memorial is not owned by the locality, the owner of the monument or memorial shall be given an opportunity to reclaim or relocate the monument or memorial within six months of notice from the locality. After six months, if the owner of such a monument or memorial declines the opportunity to reclaim or relocate the monument or memorial in question, the locality shall be authorized to proceed with the relocation.