| Legislative Initiatives |
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| Legislative & Policy Program |
GOAL: To advance ethically and technically sound planning as part of the decision making process.
OBJECTIVE & STRATEGY
To improve the legislation and regulations under which planning operates in Virginia
- Continue to organize the legislative processes and procedures of the Chapter
- Include members of each Section in the Legislative Committee
- Develop specific operating policies and procedures
- Develop Chapter positions and comments on proposed APA planning policies
- Identify, monitor and participate in legislative study commissions
- Send letter offering technical assistance on planning issues to the legislators prior to the General Assembly
- Develop Chapter positions on legislation
- Legislative Committee evaluates bills and develops consensus position
- Position statement is reviewed by Chapter Board’s Executive Committee
- If appropriate, coordinate positions with other planning related organizations to achieve unified response
- Send Chapter positions on specific legislation to targeted legislators.
- Coordinate testimony and inform VAPA members of bills affecting planning in Virginia.
- Enhance annual Legislative day as a tool for promoting better planning legislation in Virginia.
For information about the VAPA Legislative & Policy Program, contact Jeryl Rose Phillips, AICP, Legislative & Policy Director by email.
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| 2008 General Assembly Session |
Preliminary Final Report from the 2008 General Assembly - Legislation Tracked by VAPA
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| 2007 Legislative Priorities |
Download Our 2007 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
VAPA supports efforts to improve local and regional planning. Improved planning is borne from better technical assessment and enhanced public involvement, two essential elements of empowering sound community decision making. VAPA supports appropriate local and regional authority to plan for and implement livable communities across the Commonwealth.
VAPA promotes transportation policies and programs that support strong, vital communities and provide a full range of mobility choices for all Virginians. Transportation and land use planning must be considered in concert and policy decisions should appropriately reflect this linkage. As transportation projects are considered the concept of multi-modalism (road, transit, bike & pedestrian ways) is essential. It is critical to recognize that transportation decisions must support the goals and policies of local communities in order to preserve a high quality of life for all Virginians. VAPA’s White Paper entitled Land Use and Sustainable Transportation is a resource for policy makers.
VAPA supports appropriate authority to assess impact fees and to allow the coordinated provision of public facilities. These tools minimize the fiscal impact of growth on current taxpayers. Coordinated provision of public infrastructure, including transportation facilities, for by-right zoning allows localities to more cost-effectively meet the demand created by new development. Coordination of residential and commercial development with availability of transportation, schools, water, sewer and other services is critical to livable and affordable communities.
VAPA supports the development of a State Housing Policy and an Affordable Housing Plan with appropriate policies and tools to encourage affordable, accessible housing across the Commonwealth. Housing that can be afforded by Virginia’s workforce is essential to maintaining the strong business-friendly environment that is a cornerstone of Virginia’s economic strength.
VAPA supports Preservation of Open Space & Farmland, Purchase of Development Rights and Enhancement of the Virginia Land Conservation Fund including “start-up” funds for a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) program, as recommended by the Joint Study Committee on Open Space and Farmland Preservation. VAPA also supports enhanced funding to the VLCF that will support local acquisition of conservation easement programs.
VAPA supports adequate state funding to assist local and regional agencies to conduct water supply and water quality planning activities. New requirements for water supply planning and continued efforts to improve water quality, including meeting federal Clean Water Act mandates, increases financial pressures on local taxpayers to address state and federal water policies and goals. Adequate state financial support is essential to achieving the desired outcomes of these state and federal mandates.
VAPA supports clarifying Virginia law to ensure that the rights of property owners are properly respected while preserving governmental condemnation authority necessary to provide essential public purposes such as safe drinking water, protection of public health, schools, parks and roads. It is also essential to ensure that governments have appropriate authority to avoid and abate blighted conditions through redevelopment.
VAPA supports sustainable development policies and strategies for the Commonwealth. Currently, there is little coordination at the state level to ensure that state, regional and local planning policies promote sustainable growth patterns across the Commonwealth in a synchronized manner. Enhanced communication about planning issues and needs between and among all levels of government can be fostered through establishment of a state planning assistance office.
An Issue Brief has also been prepared for each priority, going into more detail and positions on each. Below is a listing of this information:
2007 General Assembly Session Tracking
2006 VAPA Legislative Package
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| Legislative Committee |
VAPA's Legislative Committee is a standing committee, comprised of the Legislative & Policy Director, at least three Executive Committee members, and a broad cross-section of the membership. The Legislative Committee drafts the annual Legislative Priorities Agenda and recommends it to the VAPA Board for endorsement. Committee members may also prepare issue papers for consideration by the Chapter, and may provide expert testimony as needed.
- Jason Beske, AICP, Senior Planner, Town
of Leesburg
- Bill Britton, AICP, Charles City County
- Wayne Cilimberg, AICP, Albemarle County
- William “Chuck” Davidson, City of Richmond
- Chris DeWitt, VHB, Inc.
- Ellie Fitzell
- James Freas, City of Hampton
- Elizabeth Friel, AICP, Past-President (City of Falls Church)
- Ann Goode, AICP, Vice-President (Reed Smith)
- Greg Grootendorst, AICP, Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (Economics)
- Denise Harris, AICP, President (Fauquier County)
- Andrea Hornung, AICP, Assistant Director of Planning (Stafford County)
- Glenn Larson, AICP, AICP Professional Development Officer (Chesterfield County)
- Jana Lynott, AICP, Treasurer (Northern Virginia Transportation District Commission)
- Keith McCrea, AICP, Department of Aviation
- Legislative & Policy Director: Jeryl Rose Phillips, AICP (City of Suffolk)
- Jean Plymale, Virginia Tech - "eCorridors"
- Robert Puentes, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
- Maynard Sipe, Esq., AICP
- Hannah Twaddell, Senior Planner, Renaissance Planning Group
- Mary Ann Welton, AICP, Fairfax County
- Tevya Tywanna Williams, City of Hopewell
- Eldon James & Associates (Legislative Consultant)
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| VAPA Guidance For Taking Positions on Proposed Legislation |
The VAPA 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).
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| Legislative Committee Initiatives |
VAPA Reviews Fundamental Planning Enabling Authority with General Assembly House Committee
VAPA offers support to START
The Statewide Transportation Analysis and Recommendation Task Force (START) is a joint Senate Finance and Senate Transportation subcommittee with fifteen citizen members. Senators Chichester (Finance) and Hawkins (Transportation) established and are overseeing the work of the Task Force. The Task Force will develop an action plan to address transportation needs, state and local policy reform, and funding strategies. From this, legislative and budget proposals will be introduced in the 2006 General Assembly Session. The Task Force will meet four times between September and December 2005.
In June 2005, the VAPA Board endorsed preparation of a white paper to be sent to the Chairs of START, entitled “Land Use and Sustainable Transportation Financing,” co-authored by Jeryl Rose Phillips, AICP, VAPA Legislative & Policy Director and Jana Lynott, AICP, VAPA Treasurer. The paper outlines VAPA’s vision for Smarter Growth, which takes many cues from APA’s adopted Policy Guide on Smart Growth on the topic of linking land use and transportation, as well as a draft set of agreement principles for more sustainable development in the Commonwealth being prepared by VAPA. It suggests specific legislative initiatives that VAPA believes will encourage more compact development patterns that will save the Commonwealth more than $3 billion in road construction costs over the next 25 years.
It espouses that better coordination of land use and transportation planning is the precursor to solving our transportation funding crisis. The paper urges the General Assembly to look at transportation financing in a comprehensive manner by establishing the institutional foundation for a strong connection between land use and transportation planning—one where planning and funding decisions are made according to a set of Smart Growth principles, strategies, and evaluation criteria.
A CD-ROM of background materials cited in the paper was also sent, which includes:
VAPA endorses ‘Safer by Design’ commitment statement with allied organizations
On May 20, 2005, representatives of local, state and national agencies and associations interested in creating safer environments met in Henrico County at a roundtable hosted by the Virginia Crime Prevention Association (VCPA) to discuss ways that they can collaborate to prevent crime and terrorism through secure design. For many years, Virginia has been a crime prevention leader by incorporating Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles into community policing and community planning. Yet, some states and national government agencies are just beginning to see the value of using design as a tool to fight crime and terrorism. The purpose of the roundtable was to bring together key officials from a variety of disciplines to discuss ways they could work together to develop national guidelines that professionals may use in historic preservation, landscape design, lighting design, building design as well as fire protection, crime prevention, homeland security, and community planning.
VAPA was represented on the Roundtable by Jeryl Rose Phillips, AICP, Legislative & Policy Director, whereat she briefed the Roundtable on APA’s recently adopted Policy Guide on Security (www.planning.org/policy/guides/security.htm).
The Roundtable prepared the following “Safer By Design” Commitment statement, which the VAPA Board endorsed at its June 2005 meeting. By standing by this commitment with allied organizations, VAPA encourages its members to find appropriate ways to translate this statement into planning practice in Virginia.
Safer By Design Mission Statement/Statement of Commitment
The Safer By Design Coalition believes in making places safer. The Coalition is concerned with the promotion of safe, sustainable and attractive environments. We support community planning that aims to make communities safer and more livable by tackling crime and the fear of crime. Our goal is to demonstrate how good planning can contribute to crime prevention and the creation of safer places which leads to well-designed, sustainable communities. We support the development of places which people want to occupy and use, creating a strong and positive sense of community identity and protection.
- Virginia Crime Prevention Association
- Henrico County Division of Police
- Chesterfield County Police Department
- Richmond Police Department
- Virginia Beach Police Department
- Roanoke Police Department
- Norfolk Police Department
- Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
- Virginia Department Conservation and Recreation
- Virginia Office of the Uniform Statewide Building Code
- Virginia Main Street Program
- Virginia State Fire Marshall
- U.S. Department of Justice - Bureau of Justice Assistance
- National Crime Prevention Council
- American Planning Association - Virginia Chapter
- American Institute of Architects - Virginia Society
- American Society of Landscape Architects - National and Virginia Chapter
- National Fire Protection Association
- Illuminating Engineers Society of North America
- International Association of Chiefs of Police
- International CPTED Association
- International Society of Aborculture
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| APA's Legislative and Policy Program |
APA’s Legislative and Policy Program website is http://www.planning.org/legislation/. On this website, you will find links to APA’s Legislative Priorities, adopted and draft APA Policy Guides, APA’s Grassroots Network and Action Center, APA Planning and Land Use Law Resource, “The Statehouse,” APA’s periodic newsletter on planning legislation and state governments, Domestic Policy Watch, Congressional Fellowships, tips for effective advocacy, legislative resources, and amicus curiae briefs filed by APA in selected cases of national importance.
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