APA Virginia Guidance For Taking Positions on Proposed Legislation

The APA Virginia Board has approved guidelines for evaluation of proposed State Legislation. The guidelines are:

• Any new enabling legislation should be made available to all localities and not be restricted or defined by size, geographic location, or rate of growth.
• All enabling legislation should be permissive and not mandatory.
• If legislation is proposed to be mandatory, then assurance must be provided so that it does not fall into a “one size fits all” situation.
• Any new enabling legislation, that allows for the use of tools such as impact fees and adequate public facilities programs, shall require as perquisite to enactment of a local ordinance the gathering and analysis of appropriate data, the creation of local goals, objectives and policies, and the description of an implementing strategy.  In addition, these policies should form the basis for an amendment to a locality’s comprehensive plan.
• The local enacting ordinance and program must be consistent with a locality’s comprehensive plan.
• Enabling legislation that allows the use of tools, such as an impact fee, should allow them to be applied at the time of actual impact, i.e. prior to the issuance of building permits, with the local prerogative to limit their imposition to earlier stages of project review and approval such as at the time of plan of development review, subdivision, or zoning.
• Proposed legislation shall be examination for unintended impacts or implications (e.g. establishing a standard that might be less stringent than one already being practiced by localities).