Norfolk City Charter Amendment - Zoning Ordinance Conformity
Summary
Virginia Governor signed SB806 amending the City of Norfolk's charter to require that any property with a substantial negative impact on public health, safety, and welfare must conform to the city's zoning ordinance within a reasonable time specified by ordinance, with a mandatory minimum of two years. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate (40-0) and with strong House support (92-6) before receiving gubernatorial approval.
What changed
SB806 amends Norfolk City's charter to establish a mandatory timeline framework for zoning ordinance conformity on properties causing substantial negative impacts to public health, safety, and welfare. The amendment requires conformance within a reasonable time specified by city ordinance, with a floor of at least two years. This creates a statutory baseline that the city must honor when drafting implementing ordinances.
For property owners and developers in Norfolk, this establishes clearer regulatory expectations and due process protections regarding zoning compliance timelines. The city council will need to adopt implementing ordinances specifying reasonable conformance periods on a case-by-case basis, while respecting the two-year minimum statutory requirement.
What to do next
- Property owners in Norfolk should review zoning compliance status for properties with potential negative impacts
- Local government officials should prepare to specify conformance timelines through implementing ordinance
- Affected parties should monitor for Norfolk's forthcoming implementing ordinance details
Source document (simplified)
ChangeBridge / Virginia / SB806 Signed by Governor SB806 Senate Bill Signed by Governor 2026-04-06
Norfolk, City of; amending charter, conformity with zoning ordinance.
Charter; City of Norfolk. Amends the charter for the City of Norfolk to require, on any property where there is a substantial negative impact on public health, safety, and welfare, conformity with the city's zoning ordinance within a reasonable time, to be specified by ordinance, but never less than two years. This bill is identical to HB 1477.
Bill Details
State Virginia
Session 2026 Regular Regular Session
Chamber Senate
Official Source lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB806
LegiScan View on LegiScan
Sponsors
Angelia Williams Graves (Sen - D)
Action History
2026-04-06 Approved by Governor-Chapter 317 (effective 7/1/2026) 2026-04-06 Approved by Governor-Chapter 317 (effective 7/1/2026) 2026-03-10 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 2026-03-10 S Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 2026-02-18 S Signed by President 2026-02-18 H Signed by Speaker 2026-02-18 S Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB806ER) 2026-02-18 S Enrolled 2026-02-16 H Passed House (92-Y 6-N 0-A) 2026-02-16 H Read third time 2026-02-15 H Read second time 2026-02-13 H Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (20-Y 1-N) 2026-02-10 H Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns 2026-02-10 H Read first time 2026-02-10 H Placed on Calendar 2026-02-05 S Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) 2026-02-04 S Engrossed by Senate Block Vote (Voice Vote) 2026-02-04 S Read second time 2026-02-03 S Passed by for the day 2026-02-03 S Passed by for the day (Voice Vote) 2026-02-03 S Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) 2026-02-03 S Rules suspended 2026-02-02 S Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) 2026-01-23 S Unanimous consent to introduce 2026-01-23 S Referred to Committee on Local Government 2026-01-23 S Presented and ordered printed 26105017D
Votes
2026-02-02 Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) Yea: 15 Nay: 0 2026-02-03 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) Yea: 39 Nay: 0 2026-02-05 Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) Yea: 40 Nay: 0 2026-02-13 Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (20-Y 1-N) Yea: 20 Nay: 1 2026-02-16 Passed House (92-Y 6-N 0-A) Yea: 92 Nay: 6
Committee Referrals
2026-01-23 S Local Government 2026-02-10 H Counties, Cities and Towns
Bill Text Versions
2026-01-23 Introduced 2026-02-18 Enrolled Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
Named provisions
Related changes
Get daily alerts for Virginia Legislative Events
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Source
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when Virginia Legislative Events publishes new changes.