Counties Cities and Towns

Friday, March 6, 2026·8m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Counties Cities and Towns Committee advanced a bill to protect people with vested interests from suits related to zoning changes, which had been amended in the Senate to limit its scope to residential areas. The bill passed on a 10-to-7 vote despite opposition that, as the chair noted, 'was just quiet.'

Key Actions

·P504 – Vested Interests Protection from Zoning-Related SuitsPassed

Controversies

Silent opposition to the bill

The chair had earlier characterized the bill as one on which 'there is no opinion by anybody,' but after the vote acknowledged 'there is some opposition. It was just quiet.' The 7 no votes reflect opposition, but no named speaker articulated a specific objection on the record.

Notable Quotes

“In 2024, the city council of Charlottesville passed a down zoning initiative. They changed everything to promote the growth of housing within the city of Charlottesville. There was immediately a suit was filed that quelled a lot of investment that was made in that housing.”
Senator Deeds — Senator Deeds, the bill's sponsor, was explaining to the chair the background circumstances that prompted the legislation.

+ 2 more quotes

Votes

Move to report this fine billPassed

Unlock the full summary

Subscribe to see all key actions, controversies, quotes, and what's next.

TranscriptPreview

You know, The committee of Counties, Cities and Towns will come to order. It is our final meeting of Dream it, Plan It, Build it, our lovely committee of spires and shires. With that, let's take the roll, please. The clerk shall close the roll. A quorum is present. Senator Deeds, you have the one and only bill before this committee. This is not a bill we've heard before. And I will say, normally we would have referred this to courts, but we're not going to because that would have the effect of killing your bill. So I don't want to do that. So we'll let it survive or die on its own. But if you could just talk to us a little bit about why, you know, the who whole thing. Why are we doing this? What had to come, all that P504 just a little background. Housing, of course, is an issue everywhere. When I first got involved, the only place I heard about housing was the city of Charlottesville. Now it's an issue everywhere. In 2024, the city council of Charlottesville passed a down zoning initiative. They changed everything to promote the growth of housing within the…

Subscribe to unlock the full transcript, summary, and search across all Virginia committee hearings.