CHAPTER 409

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 2, 4, 5 and 9 of Chapter 857 of the Acts
of Assembly of 1954, approved April 2, 1954, which provided a
charter for the town of Fairfax, the sections relating respectively to
the corporate limits, compensation of the mayor and the officers of
the town, certain zoning requirements and certain taxes on all prop-
erty within the town.

[H 197]

Approved March 30, 1960

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 2, 4, 5 and 9 of Chapter 357 of the Acts of Assembly of
1954, approved April 2, 1954, be amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 2. The corporate limits of the town of Fairfax, Virginia, as here-
tofore established, are hereby reestablished and the said corporate limits
shall be taken and deemed * to be the corporate limits as set forth in the
final order entered on August seven, nineteen hundred fifty-eight, by the
Circuit Court of Fairfax County, sitting as a duly constituted Annexation
Court, in Town of Fairfax v. County of Fairfax, At Law 7597, Circuit
Court of Fairfax County.

§ 4. The officers appointed by the town council shall receive such
compensation as may be allowed by the council, but neither the mayor nor
any member of the council, except as may be otherwise provided in this
act, shall receive any compensation except for special service, upon the
recorded affirmative vote of at least four members of the council, and in
no case shall the interested official be entitled to a vote in the matter of
such compensation.

§ 5. The council shall have power to define and mark the boundaries
of streets; to lay out new streets, alleys and sidewalks; to provide for
order and quiet and the observance of the Sabbath; to plant and protect
shade trees; to make regulations in respect to public health; to abate
nuisances, and, to this end, confer upon the mayor and such other officers
as may be designated all necessary authority and jurisdiction; to regulate
and prohibit the running at large of animals; to assess, levy and collect
taxes on all property of every character and description within the cor-
poration except as prohibited by general law; to grant franchises within
the corporation, and to pass all ordinances that may be deemed necessary
or proper to carry into effect the objects of the incorporation and promote
the general welfare of the town and to punish their violation by fine or
imprisonment or both, and shall have power to exercise all other powers
which may not be herein expressly named, granted to incorporated towns
under the general laws of the State.

The council shall have power, in order to promote the general welfare
through the preservation and protection of historic places and areas of
historic interest in the town, to provide for old and historic districts in
which no building or structure shall be erected, reconstructed, altered,
restored, or razed until approved by a Board of Architectural Review. The
council may create a Board of Architectural Review which shall have the
power to pass upon the appropriateness of exterior architectural features,
including signs, of buildings and structures to be erected, reconstructed,
altered or restored in any old and historic district established in the town,
and to prohibit the razing of any building in such a district that was
erected prior to or during the year nineteen hundred and is of such archi-
tectural or historical interest that its removal would be to the detriment
of the public interest.

§ 9. The town council shall annually assess, levy and collect all
necessary taxes for roads and streets, debt service, and all other corporate
purposes, on all property within the * town.

The assessment for taxation of property shall be the same as the last
county assessment, provided that the assessor, who shall be elected by the
council, shall notify the commissioner of the revenue of the county of any
personal property or any real estate not assessed by the county, and all
Improvements made, adding value to any real estate since the last county
assessment and thereupon the same shall be assessed as provided by
general law.

As the assessment is completed the tax tickets shall be made out by
the town treasurer. All taxes shall be due and payable on the first day of
December in each year, and a penalty of five per cent shall be added to all
tax bills not paid on or before the first day of the next succeeding
February.

At the annual meeting of the council held on the first Wednesday in
September of each year, the town treasurer shall make his annual settle-
ment with the town council and he shall also, whenever requested by the
council, make a full report of all receipts and disbursements. The council
shall have power to provide for sale or rental of any real estate so de-
linquent, and generally shall have all the powers, rights and remedies
possessed by the State and county for the collection of unpaid and de-
linquent taxes.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.