CHAPTER 263

An Act to provide a Highway Right-of-Way Fund, to provide the manner
and purposes for which such fund is to be expended, and to appro-
priate the necessary funds therefor. P

(S 108]

Approved March 31, 1964

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

§ 1. There is hereby established and created in the State treasury
the Highway Right-of-Way Fund.

§ 2. The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000.00) or so much
thereof as may be necessary is hereby appropriated from the funds here-
inafter mentioned to be expended by the State Highway Commission as
provided in this Act.

§ 3. All money deposited in or transferred to the Highway Right-
of-Way Fund shall be expended by the State Highway Commission for
the acquisition of properties to constitute rights of way for highways
and streets, including those within cities and towns. The Commission
shall expend such fund for acquisition of properties which will be needed
for future highway construction purposes, whenever the State Highway
Commissioner deems such acquisition necessary, due to the probability
of development of such properties, and after the State Right-of-Way
Engineer declares prompt acquisition is required to prevent such develop-
ment and consequent higher acquisition and construction costs when the
highway project is to be constructed.

Such acquisition is hereby declared to be in the public interest and
any properties so acquired are deemed to be acquired for a public use.

§ 4. The procedure for acquiring such properties shall be mutatis
mutandis the same as provided for the acquisition of land or interest
therein by the State Highway Commissioner in Article 5, Chapter 1 of
Title 33, except that no proceeding instituted for the purposes of acquir-
ing property hereunder shall fail for lack of a completed construction plan
for the highway for which property is being acquired. In lieu of a center-
line description, any land or interest therein acquired hereunder may be
described by metes and bounds, or any other recognized method of describ-
ing boundaries to land.

§ 5. The State Highway Commission may sell or otherwise dispose
of any improvements on lands acquired under the terms of this chapter,
or lease such land and improvements until such time as the land is needed
for immediate highway construction purposes. Any residue parcels of
lands so acquired which are found to be unnecessary for highway pur-
poses may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the State Highway Com-
mission.

All revenues received from the rental or disposition of such land and
improvements shall be deposited in the Highway Right-of-Way Fund.

§ 6. All revenues paid into the State treasury from the proceeds of
taxes on motor vehicle fuels, motor vehicle licenses, and any other sources
which are required by law to be segregated for the construction, recon-
struction and maintenance of State highways, not otherwise expressly
appropriated, are hereby declared to be available funds to be expended
as provided in this Act. For purposes of this Act any revenue paid into
the State treasury in excess of the estimated receipts from such segre-
gated revenues in the Appropriation Act for the current biennium shall
be considered as available funds; provided, however, in the event there
should be any expenditures by the State Highway Commission in any
fiscal year in excess of the amount appropriated for such purpose, by
virtue of a deficit appropriation authorized by the Governor, any revenues
paid into the State treasury in excess of the estimated receipts for such
fiscal year shall not be considered as available funds under this section
until such deficit appropriation has been repaid. The State Comptroller is
directed to transfer such available funds to the special fund herein cre-
ated at such time as it appears that current revenues segregated for
highway purposes exceed the estimated sums otherwise appropriated;
provided, however, that the total amount to be accumulated in such spe-
cial fund shall not exceed ten million dollars ($10,000,000.00).

§ 7. Whenever, after acquisition of any property under this Act,
the State Highway Commission proceeds with the construction of a high-
way project which will require the use of any of the property so acquired,
the Commission shall deposit in the Highway Right-of-Way Fund, from
other funds available, the amount expended to pay the cost of such
properties.

§ 8. It is the intention of this Act to provide a revolving fund for
the purpose of acquiring properties to be used for highway rights of way
at a time before development of such properties so as to minimize the
costs of highway construction and reduce the inconvenience to owners of
property within a proposed highway project.

§ 9. If any portion of this Act, or any section, sentence, clause,
phrase or word is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act
shall not be affected thereby.