Visit Lancaster County and the Lancaster County Historic Courthouse
Location: 8265 Mary Ball Road / Courthouse RoadBuilt: 1860 – 1861Style: Greek RevivalArchitect: Edwin O RobinsonContractor: Edwin O Robinson Description: The building faces south and is a two story red colored brick and wood structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Lancaster. The south front has a large Roman Doric […]
School Construction Financing Bills Head to House Floor – Contact Your Delegates Now!
On February 7, the House Finance Committee reported with a substitute HB 805 (Rasoul) on a bipartisan vote of 13-8. As previously reported, this bill would permit any county or city to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to 1 percent, if initiated by a resolution of the local governing body […]
Finance Update: Problematic Assessment Bill Continued to 2025, Meals Tax Bill Amended, and More
Assessments of affordable housing: HB 1446 (Coyner) proposed a significant policy change to the assessment of affordable housing properties. Although the bill was amended in subcommittee to limit its applicability to properties in certain federal programs, VACo continued to voice serious concerns about the breadth of the changes proposed and strongly encouraged this bill to […]
Capitol Contact ALERT! Oppose SB 697: Mandates Approval of Solar and Battery Storage
Bill to be Heard Thursday, February 8 in Committee – Call Your Senators Now to Oppose SB 697 (Van Valkenburg) requires localities to permit utility-scale solar and energy storage facilities as a “special exception” per 15.2-2288.8 of Virginia Code and to develop an ordinance that establishes “reasonable criteria and requirements” for the siting of utility-scale […]
School Construction Financing Bills Advance in House
On February 5, Subcommittee #3 of the House Finance Committee recommended to report with a substitute HB 805 (Rasoul) on a vote of 5-3. As previously reported, this bill would permit any county or city to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to 1 percent, if initiated by a resolution of […]
Bill to Make Short-Term Rentals a By-Right Use Passes in Committee
SB 544 (Bagby), as amended in committee, prohibits a locality from adopting a local ordinance that requires a special exception, special use, or conditional use permit be obtained for the use of a residential dwelling as a short-term rental where the dwelling unit is also legally occupied by the property owner as his or her […]
Bill to Make ADUs a By-Right Use Passes in Committee
SB 304 (Salim) passed in the Senate Local Government Committee on February 5 by a vote of 8-6-1 and will be considered on the Senate floor later this week. VACo opposes SB 304. Action Required – Contact members of the Senate to vote “NO” on SB 304. The legislation, as amended in committee, mandates all […]
Update on Elections Bills
Voter satellitesSeveral bills dealing with the establishment of voter satellite offices are under consideration this session. Since the establishment of voter satellite offices is currently a local option and would be funded by local dollars in the absence of additional state support, VACo has encouraged the preservation of local flexibility in making these decisions. HB […]
Bills Take Differing Approaches to Statutes Regarding Removal of Officers
HB 1149 (Cordoza) would make a significant change to the process of removing an elected officer or officer who has been appointed to fill an elective office. Under current law, the removal process for most elected officials begins with a petition to a circuit court signed by registered voters within the jurisdiction equating to ten […]
Speed Camera Roundup
SB 336 (Roem) and HB 521 (Laufer) focus on the ability for localities to expand the use of photo speed monitoring within their jurisdiction but take different approaches in enabling the use of this public safety tool. As previously reported, SB 336 would permit a state or local law enforcement agency to place and operate a photo speed […]
Support Priority Budget Amendments
VACo has worked with legislators and partner organizations to introduce a series of budget amendments to address county priorities this session. There are also a large number of other amendments under consideration that are helpful to local governments. The “money committees” will be reviewing member proposals in advance of reporting their respective budgets on February […]
School Construction Financing Bills Pass Senate
On January 29, the full Senate passed SB 14 (McPike) on a bipartisan vote of 27-13. As previously reported, this bill would permit any county or city to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to 1 percent, if initiated by a resolution of the local governing body and approved by voters […]
FOIA Bills Update
VACo opposed SB 324 (Roem), which is an unfunded mandate bill and would allow every citizen of the Commonwealth, and representative of newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, and media in or into the Commonwealth, to make four free two-hour FOIA requests per 31 consecutive days. Then after the 8 free hours per […]
Public Notice and Transparency Bills of Interest
VACo opposes HB 710 (Webert) and SB 549 (Russet Perry), which provide that any travel expense of a local official, as defined in the bill, to be paid from public funds, that is anticipated to exceed $2,500 shall be subject to approval in advance by a vote of the local governing body in an open […]
Bill to Make Residential a “By-Right” Use in Commercial and Industrial Districts is carried over to 2025
At the request of the patron SB 430 (Van Valkenburg) was “carried over” for the year in the Senate Local Government Committee. The legislation proposes to make “any type of residential use that is permitted in a locality” a permitted use on any parcel, except for those with a zoning classification of agriculture, conservation, or […]
VACo Opposes Bill to Make Residential a “By-Right” Use in Commercial and Industrial Districts
SB 430 (Van Valkenburg) proposes to make “any type of residential use that is permitted in a locality” a permitted use on any parcel, except for those with a zoning classification of agriculture, conservation, or a different residential use. The bill also prohibits a locality from requiring a special exception, special use, or conditional use […]