Richmond, Virginia (September 25, 2006) -- Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) today announced a three-bill package of legislation that would dramatically change Virginia’s approach to land use. If enacted, the legislation would devolve greater authority and control over roads within their boundaries to qualified local governments that participate as well as increase the tools available to sensibly manage rapid residential growth. It would also fundamentally transform the Commonwealth’s current structure of responsibility for local road maintenance, creating a more cooperative partnership between the Commonwealth and its localities.

The bills, sponsored by Delegates Clifford L. “Clay” Athey, Jr. (R-Front Royal), Jeffrey M. Frederick (R-Prince William), and Robert G. “Bob” Marshall (R-Prince William) are part of a comprehensive package of House Republican initiatives introduced for the ongoing General Assembly special session on transportation that concludes this week. Collectively, the bills represent a much-needed modernization and overhaul of Virginia’s approach to local road building, which dates to the Byrd Road Act of 1932. In addition to increasing the level of control granted to localities over land use decisions, House Republicans note that the legislation has the potential to slow the growth of overall expenditures on transportation maintenance.

“House Republicans have long been committed to addressing transportation creatively and comprehensively,” remarked Speaker Howell. “Any plan to improve transportation that ignores one of the root causes of clogged roadways – namely, Virginia’s 70-plus-year-old government land use policies – is inherently inadequate, shortsighted and flawed. The Commonwealth can no longer afford to be timid or piecemeal in targeting solutions toward this aspect of the overall challenge. That is why our forward-looking legislation for the first time directly ties land use and transportation. I am firmly behind this initiative to introduce accountability and devolve management as part of a sweeping and much-needed overhaul of Virginia’s approach to land use policy.”

Delegate Frederick’s legislation, HB 5093, would allow local county governments to create new “urban transportation service districts” and assume responsibility for maintaining all secondary (i.e., subdivision) roads. Localities that choose to establish these districts would be allowed to assess impact fees on land parcels outside the district that previously have been rezoned for by-right residential development. In addition, the Commonwealth would give participating localities road maintenance funds equal to the urban allocation per lane mile for the area within the district, as is the current practice with cities and towns. If the maintenance of those roads costs less than the amount given to the localities, they would be allowed to spend the excess funds on any transportation need. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) also would negotiate the transfer of surplus equipment to a participating locality for the maintenance of the roads, and an incentive would be provided to hire VDOT employees.

Local governments would have until 2009 to sign onto the plan.

Delegate Athey’s legislation, HB 5094, would require every county to amend its already required comprehensive plan to incorporate at least one proposed urban development area, which must be sufficient to satisfy a full decade of projected residential growth. Development within the areas would become eligible for inclusion within adjacent urban transportation service districts. This legislation would require localities to thoughtfully, properly and proactively plan for future development, eliminating the haphazard “shotgun” approach that has resulted in uneven sprawl and subsequent road congestion.

The bill is intended to strike a better balance between demand on transportation system capacity and alternative settlement patterns.

Delegate Marshall’s legislation, HB 5096, would end the practice of taking additional subdivision streets into the state secondary highway system after this year, effective January 1, 2007. Currently, the provisions in the Code of Virginia (Section 33.1-72.1) require VDOT to accept into the Commonwealth’s secondary system any new roads built according to state standards, regardless of the impact such additions will have on the traffic levels and operation of the surrounding primary and secondary system roadways. In addition, the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s current regulations require only that one year’s worth of maintenance costs be provided to VDOT to compensate for these ongoing costs. Over the last 10 years, Virginia has added approximately 1,500 center-lane miles to the secondary system maintained by the Commonwealth through VDOT. The vast majority of these added new lane-miles were the result of residential development approved by local governments without any meaningful coordination or consideration of the impact on the state’s overall transportation network. This legislation would require that localities, which approve new subdivision developments, be made responsible for the maintenance of the additional secondary streets that they approve.

This change would make local governments more accountable and responsible for the potential impact of their land use decisions on the transportation system within their boundaries.

“The purpose of this transportation special session was designed to bring new and innovative ideas to the forefront,” noted Speaker Howell. “If we continue to utilize 70-plus-year-old tools to address today’s 21st Century challenges, Virginia’s transportation system will only worsen – regardless of how much we tax our constituents or spend on our roads. If we want to relieve congestion, we must address its root causes, and not merely feed the problem by attempting to pave over the unique character and natural beauty of our Commonwealth.”

“Our proposals represent precisely the kind of far-sighted, comprehensive thinking we envisioned when calling this special session, and the right approach we need to meet Virginia’s transportation challenges going forward. I congratulate Delegates Athey, Frederick and Marshall for patroning these important bills, and thank all those within our Majority Caucus and outside the General Assembly who participated in their development, review and advancement. Looking ahead, I hope that those heretofore who have placed their focus solely on increasing taxes, spending more and building more will take note of these bills, will find ‘common ground’ with us, and will join House Republicans on working towards their ultimate enactment for the benefit of all Virginians.”

Today’s land use overhaul announcement builds upon the legislative accomplishments in the 2006 Regular Session, which were enacted because of the initiative and leadership of House Republicans. The following legislation became law on July 1, 2006: HB 1513 (Delegate Frederick) requires localities to submit their comprehensive plans and traffic impact statements to VDOT for input and review on zoning decisions; HB 1521 (Delegate Bob Marshall) promotes better managed growth by requiring localities to include road and transportation improvements when preparing their comprehensive plans; HB 1506 (Delegate Athey) expands the number of localities that may accept cash proffers to those that have experienced a population increase of more than 5%; and HB 1528 (Delegate Hamilton) requires localities to include cost estimates of road and transportation improvements in their comprehensive plans to factor into their proffer collections.