H. B. 2027


(By Delegate Faircloth)

[Introduced February 14, 2001; referred to the

Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-eight, article twenty-four, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section forty-eight-b, all relating to zoning ordinances; requiring an election to adopt a zoning ordinance proposed by a county commission; and requiring a petition for a subsequent vote on the zoning ordinance.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section forty-eight, 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 said
article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section forty-eight-b, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 24. PLANNING AND ZONING.

PART XII. SAME -- ELECTION ON ZONING ORDINANCE.

§8-24-48. Election on municipal zoning ordinance; form of ballots or ballot labels; procedure.

If, within sixty days following adoption of the zoning ordinance by the governing body of the municipality, or by the county court a petition is filed with the recorder or the clerk of the county court praying for submission of such the 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 the ordinance shall may not take effect until the same shall have been approved by a majority of the legal votes cast thereon on the ordinance 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 to the ordinance.
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 of the legal votes cast upon the question be for zoning, the provisions of said the zoning ordinance shall, upon the date the results of such an the election are declared, be effective. If a majority of the legal votes cast upon the question be against zoning, said zoning ordinance shall may 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 in this article.
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 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 the 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 the 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 under this article, insofar as practicable.
§8-24-48b. Election on county commission zoning ordinance; form of ballots; procedure; petition for subsequent vote.
(a) Any zoning ordinance proposed for adoption by the county commission shall be submitted for approval or rejection to the qualified voters residing in the county. The zoning ordinance shall be adopted if it is approved by not less than sixty percent of the legal votes cast on the ordinance at the next primary or general election.
Notice of the election shall be provided and the ballots shall be printed as set forth in section forty-eight of this article.
(b) Any zoning ordinance which has been adopted or rejected, or any zoning ordinance adopted by a county commission prior to the enactment of this section, shall be thereafter voted upon at a primary or general election in a subsequent election year upon submission to the county commission of a petition containing signatures of qualified voters residing in the county in an amount equal to not less than fifteen percent of the total legal votes cast in the county for all candidates for governor at the last preceding general election at which a governor was elected.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require an election before adoption of zoning ordinances proposed by the county commission. A subsequent vote on a zoning ordinance may be held upon submission to the county commission of a petition containing signatures of 15% of the qualified voters in the county who voted in the last gubernatorial election.

§8-24-48b is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.