Senate Bill No. 236
(By Senator Snyder)
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[Introduced January 27, 1999;
referred to the Committee.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-six, article twenty- four, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend
and reenact section forty-eight of said article, all
relating to zoning ordinances; providing that a county
commission or the governing body of a municipality may place
a proposed zoning ordinance or a zoning ordinance already
enacted before the voters for approval or rejection; and
changing the petition requirements to amend zoning ordinance
rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-six, article twenty-four, chapter eight
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section forty-eight of said article be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 24. PLANNING AND ZONING.
§8-24-46. Changes of zoning rules and regulations -- Petition for change.
Petitions, duly signed, may be presented to the recorder of
the municipality or to the clerk of the county court commission
requesting an amendment, supplement or change of the rules and
regulations of the zoning ordinance by:
(1) The planning commission; or
(2) The owners of fifty percent or more of the real property
area to which the petition relates
(2) A petition containing signatures of qualified voters
residing in the municipality or county to which the petition
relates, in an amount equal to not less than fifteen percent of
the total legal votes cast in that municipality or county for all
candidates for governor in the last preceding general election in
which a governor was elected.
PART XII. SAME -- ELECTION ON ZONING ORDINANCE.
§8-24-48. Election on zoning ordinance; form of ballots or
ballot labels; procedure.
(a) The governing body of a municipality or the county
commission may submit a proposed zoning ordinance or a zoning
ordinance already enacted
to the qualified voters residing within
the jurisdiction of that governing body for approval or rejection
at any regular primary election, general election or special
election. Notice of the election shall be provided and the
ballots shall be printed as set forth in subsection (b) of this
section.
The zoning ordinance shall be adopted if it is
approved by not less than sixty percent of the legal votes cast
thereon in that jurisdiction. If a previously enacted zoning
ordinance is rejected, it shall no longer have any force or
effect.
When a zoning ordinance has been rejected, the governing
body of the municipality or county commission may not submit that
zoning ordinance to the voters again until the next primary or
general election.
(b) If, within sixty days following adoption of the zoning
ordinance by the governing body of the municipality or by the
county court commission in which the zoning ordinance was not
submitted to the voters, a petition is filed with the recorder or the clerk of the county court commission praying for submission
of such zoning ordinance for approval or rejection to the
qualified voters residing in the area within the jurisdiction of
the municipal or county planning commission, such ordinance shall
not take effect until the same shall have been approved by a
majority of the legal votes cast thereon at any regular primary
or general election or special election called for that purpose.
The petition may be in any number of counterparts but must be
signed in their own handwriting by a number of qualified voters
residing in the area affected by the proposed zoning equal,
notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (10), subsection
(b), section two, article one of this chapter, to not less than
fifteen percent of the total legal votes cast in the affected
area for all candidates for governor at the last preceding
general election at which a governor was elected. Only qualified
voters residing in the area affected by the proposed ordinance
shall be eligible to vote with respect thereto.
Upon the ballots, or ballot labels where voting machines are
used, there shall be written or printed the following:
/ / For Zoning
/ / Against Zoning
If a majority not less than sixty percent of the legal votes
cast upon the question be for zoning, the provisions of said
zoning ordinance shall, upon the date the results of such an
election are declared, be effective. If a majority of the legal
votes cast upon the question be against zoning, said zoning
ordinance shall not take effect, but the question may again be
submitted to a vote at any regular primary or general election in
the manner herein provided.
Subject to the provisions of the immediately preceding
sentence, voting upon the question of zoning may be conducted at
any regular primary or general election or special election, as
the governing body of the municipality or the county court
commission in its order submitting the same to a vote may
designate.
Notice of all elections at which the question of zoning is
to be voted upon shall be given by publication of the order
calling for a vote on such question as a Class II-0 legal
advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for
such publication shall be the area in which voting on the
question of zoning is to be conducted.
Any election at which the question of zoning is voted upon
shall be held at the voting precincts established for holding
primary or general elections. All of the provisions of the
general election laws of this state concerning primary, general
or special elections, when not in conflict with the provisions of
this article, shall apply to voting and elections hereunder,
insofar as practicable.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a county
commission or the governing body of a municipality may place a
proposed zoning ordinance or a zoning ordinance already enacted
before the voters for approval or rejection, and to change the
petition requirements to amend zoning ordinance rules.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.