Chap. 239.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the city of Staunton.
[
Approved March 27, 1934

B 229]

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That all
acts creating and amending the charter of the city of Staunton be, and

the same are hereby, amended and re-enacted in the manner and form
following : |

CHAPTER 1
City INCORPORATED

Section 1. The inhabitants of the territory comprised within the
present limits of the city of Staunton as hereinafter described or as
the same may be hereafter altered and established by law, shall continue
to be one body politic in fact and in name under the style and de-
nomination of the city of Staunton, and as such shall have and may
exercise all powers which are now or hereafter may be conferred upon
or delegated to cities under the Constitution and laws of the Common-
wealth of Virginia, as fully and completely as though said powers
were specifically enumerated herein, and no enumeration of particular
powers by this charter shall be held to be exclusive, and shall have,
exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges
and be subject to all the duties and obligations now appertaining to and
incumbent on said city as a municipal corporation, and the said city of
Staunton, as such, shall have perpetual succession, may sue and be
sued, contract and be contracted with and may have a corporate seal,
which it may alter, renew or mend at its pleasure ; the present boundaries
of the said city being as follows, to-wit: Beginning at a point in the
northwest side of the Valley turnpike, between the lands of H. L. Lang
and the property known as Mary Baldwin College, thence south thirty
degrees forty-five minutes east two thousand feet, to a point at the
intersection of Edgewood road and Coalter street extended; thence
south fifty-six degrees fifteen minutes east one thousand feet, to a
point in the north side of Catt’s road at the southwest side of a bridge
over a stream; thence south four degrees thirty minutes east sixteen
hundred and thirty feet to a point in the east side of the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad tract; thence south twenty-six degrees fifteen minutes
west thirty-six feet to a point in the line of the graveyard of the
Western State Hospital, so as not to embrace the property known as
Basic Furniture Company (this being the modification hereinbefore
mentioned) thence south sixty-eight degrees thirty minutes west nine-
teen hundred and twenty feet, to Pritchard’s extreme northeastern
corner in the west side of the Greenville road; thence with Pritchard's
line north eighty-eight degrees thirty minutes west fifteen hundred and
seventy-five feet, to Pritchard’s corner with the land of A. H. H.
Stuart’s heirs; then south eighty-seven degrees west fifteen hundred
and eighty-five feet to the mouth of a cave just above and south of
the Middlebrook road; thence north thirty-seven degrees twenty-one
minutes west thirty-one hundred and fifty feet to a point in the middle
of Peck’s lane between Peck’s crossing on the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad and the bridge over Peyton’s creek; thence north twenty de-
grees west three thousand feet, to the northeast corner of a brick store-
house on the south side of the Parkersburg road; thence north fifty
degrees forty-five minutes east fifty-three hundred and fifty feet, to a
point in the middle of the Spring Hill or Mount Solon road; thence
south eighty-four degrees east thirty hundred and fifty feet, to the
point of beginning (the lines as described to this point being the new
corporate line); thence, in order to reach the present corporate line
south thirty degrees forty-five minutes west nine hundred and twenty
feet to a point in the Valley turnpike; thence south forty-six degrees
forty-five minutes west one hundred and twenty-five feet to a corner
of the old corporate line on the north side of the Valley turnpike, where
stands or stood an aspen tree; thence (according to the original survey
made by A. D. Trotter, surveyor, in the year eighteen hundred and
sixty, as set out in Act of Assembly of that year), south forty-one
degrees east two hundred and sixteen poles to a stake; thence south
twenty degrees west one hundred and fifty and four-tenths poles to
a post in the south side of the Staunton and Richmond turnpike (or
National Cemetery road) ; thence south forty degrees west fifty-seven
and six-tenths poles to the south corner of the wall of the Western
State Hospital; thence south seventy and one-fourth degrees west one
hundred and thirty-six and one-fourth poles to a large black oak (now
a stump of same in the street) ; thence north fifty-seven and one-fourth
degrees west one hundred and forty-four and one-half poles to a
walnut tree; thence north thirty-one and one-half degrees west one
hundred and nineteen and seven-tenths poles to a stake on the east
side of a road (now Peck’s lane); thence along the said road north
sixty-five degrees east twenty-seven and sixteen one-hundredths poles,
crossing the Parkersburg road, to a stake on the north edge of the
road; thence north thirty-seven and three-fourths degrees east two
hundred and fifty poles to a large white oak on the hill; thence north
eighty-seven and three-fourths degrees east eighty-five and two-tenths
poles to the beginning point of the old corporate line.

Sec. 2. Unless otherwise specifically provided, the persons holding
any of the offices provided for in this charter, which offices have existed
under the charter heretofore in force, shall continue to hold the same
under their previous election or appointment until the term of such
office as herein provided shall expire, dating the commencement of
such term from the time fixed in said former charter.

CHAPTER II
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

Section 3. The government and administration of the city shall be
vested in one body, to be called the council of the city of Staunton,
and in one administrative officer, to be styled city manager, and in
such other departments, boards and other officers as are hereinafter
provided for, or as are permitted or required by law to be appointed
by the council, as the council may deem expedient.

Section 4. The council shall consist of five members, who shall be
elected at large from qualified voters of the city and they shall serve
for a term of four years from the first day of September next follow-
ing the date of their election and until their successors shall have been
elected and qualified; provided, however, the membership of the
council may be increased to seven or nine if a majority of the qualified
voters of the city shall so determine at an election held on the question
as next herein provided. Upon the presentation to the corporation
court of the city, or to the judge thereof in vacation, of a petition
signed by all the members of the then existing council, or by at least
five hundred qualified voters of the city, asking that the membership
of the council be increased to seven, or nine, and calling for an election
on the question, the said court, or judge, shall, by an order entered
of record, direct an election to be held on the day fixed in the order,
submitting to the qualified voters of the city the question whether or
not the membership of the council shall be increased to seven, or nine,
according to the number requested in the petition. Such election shall
be held and conducted by the regular election officers of the city in the
manner prescribed by law for holding other elections, and the result
thereof shall be certified by the commissioners of election to the said
court, or to the judge thereof in vacation. Upon receipt whereof, the
court, or judge, shall enter an order setting forth such result and
declaring the effect thereof. If a majority of the votes cast be in favor
of increasing the membership of the council to the number called for
in the question submitted, the additional number shall be elected at
the next regular election of councilmen in the city, and every fourth
year thereafter.

The ballots to be used in such election shall be prepared and dis-
tributed as provided by law, and shall have printed thereon the follow-
ing:

For increase of council to seven (or nine) members.
Against increase of council to seven (or nine) members.

Electors shall vote by marking their ballots in the manner prescribed
by general law.

Section 5. The council shall elect one of its members to preside
over its meetings, who shall be entitled president, and who shall be
ex-officio mayor of the city, and shall also elect another member to
be vice-president of the council, to act in the place of the president in
his absence or incapacity. The president and vice-president of the
council shall be elected for a term of two years, and any vacancy in
the offices shall be filled by the election by the council for the unexpired
term. The mayor shall have the same powers and duties as other mem-
bers of the council with a vote, but no veto, and shall be the official
head of the city. With the exception of those officers required by the
Constitution of the State to be elected by popular vote, the members
of the council shall be the only elective city officials.

Section 6. The council shall meet at such times as may be prescribed
by ordinance or resolution, provided, however, that it shall hold at
least one regular meeting each month. No business shall be transacted
at a special meeting except that for which it shall have been called,
unless all members of the council attend such special meeting or give
their written consent thereto. For lack of quorum, any regular
meeting may be postponed to such time as the council may determine.
Section 7. The president or any other two members of the council
may call special meetings of the council at any time upon at least twelve
hours’ written notice to each member served personally or left at his
usual place of business or residence, but special meetings may be held
at any time without notice, provided all members of the council attend
said meeting or waive notice thereof.

Section 8. No ordinance or resolution appropriating money ex-
ceeding the sum of one thousand dollars, imposing taxes, authorizing
the borrowing of money, shall be passed by the council on the same
day on which it is introduced, nor shall any such ordinance or resolu-
tion be valid unless at least three days intervene between its introduc-
ion and date of passage. No ordinance or resolution appropriating
money exceeding the sum of one hundred dollars, imposing taxes or
authorizing the borrowing of money shall be passed except by recorded
affirmative vote of a majority of all members elected to the council.

Section 9. Upon the announcement by the president of the adop-
tion of resolutions or ordinances having for their object the increase
of the indebtedness of the city, or the expenditure of its revenues,
except for the payment of its salaried officers and employees, any two
councilmen may give notice of a motion to reconsider, which motion
shall delay the question until said reconsideration shall be finally acted
on at the next regular meeting of the council.

Section 10. The council shall elect a city clerk, who shall also be
clerk of the council, and a city attorney, and may elect a constable and
a city collector, each of whom shall serve for such term as may be
provided by the council, and until his successor has been elected and
qualified. They shall perform such duties and receive such compensa-
tion as shall be prescribed by the council.

Section 11. The council shall have all the general powers vested
in it by the Constitution and laws of the State, and it shall have power
to enact ordinances providing for the exercise within its jurisdiction
of all police powers which the State itself may exercise under the
Constitution, except such as may be specifically denied cities by Act
of the General Assembly ; and shall further have power: .

First. To control and manage the fiscal and municipal affairs of
the city, and all property, real and personal, belonging to the city, and
make such ordinances, order and by-laws, relating to the same as it
may deem proper and necessary.

second. To purchase, hold, sell and convey all real and personal
property necessary for its uses and purposes.

Third. To establish markets in the city and regulate the same.

Fourth. To erect in or near the city limits suitable workhouses, jails,
houses of correction or reformation, and houses for the reception and
maintenance of the poor and destitute. It shall appoint necessary offi-
cers and other persons proper to be connected with any institution or
house which it may establish, and regulate pauperism within the limits
of the city, and the council, through such agencies as it may appoint
for the direction and management of the poor of the city, shall exer-
cise the powers and perform the duties vested by law in overseers of the
poor.

Fifth. To erect and keep in order all necessary public buildings ;
to establish and regulate public squares; airports, playgrounds, and
parks in or near the city, and to acquire by purchase, condemnation,
or otherwise, the land it may deem necessary for such uses, and to
construct in such public squares, playgrounds, or parks, as it may main-
tain, or upon any city property, stadiums, swimming pools, and recrea-
tion or amusement buildings, structures, or inclosures of every char-
acter, refreshment stands, and restaurants; to charge for admissions,
and to rent out or lease the privileges of construction or using such
swimming pools, recreation or amusement buildings, structures or
inclosures of every character, refreshment stands or restaurants.

Sixth. To acquire, establish, maintain and enlarge water works
within or without said city; to contract with the owners of land, water
and riparian rights, for the use or purchase thereof, for an estate or
interest in lands or any right or easement therein, or to have the same
condemned for the location or enlargement of said works, or the pipe,
pipe lines, and fixtures thereof, and to acquire by purchase or con-
demnation such quantity of the watershed land adjacent to the intake
or source of supply, as in the judgment of the said council may be
necessary to insure a sufficient supply of water for the said city, and
to protect the same from pollution; and to prevent by injunction any
pollution or threatened pollution of such water supply, and any and all
acts likely to impair the purity thereof; to acquire by purchase or con-
demnation from lower riparian owners the right to divert streams into
the present or any future reservoir; and to protect said water supply,
works, pipes, reservoirs and fixtures, whether within or without the
city, against injury and pollution, by appropriate ordinances and penal-
ties, to be enforced as are other ordinances of said city. The said city
may sell or supply to persons, firms or industries residing or located
outside of the city limits any surplus of water it may have over and
above the amount required to supply its own inhabitants.

Seventh. To establish or acquire by purchase and to maintain and
operate within or without the corporate limits suitable works for gas
and the generation of electricity for illumination or other purposes,
and to supply the same to consumers, in or near the city, at such price
and on such terms as it may prescribe, and to that end may contract
with owners of land and water power for the use thereof, or may
have the same condemned.

Eighth. To establish, or acquire by purchase, such other public
utilities, abattoirs, and other enterprises, either within or without the
city, as may in its judgment be in the public interest, and to that end
may contract with owners of land, with or without buildings, for the
use or the purchase thereof, or may have the same condemned.

Ninth. To establish, open, widen, extend, grade, improve, construct,
maintain, light, and clean public highways, streets, alleys, and side-
walks, boulevards and parkways, and to alter or close the same; make
or construct sewers or public ducts through the same or wherever else
they may deem expedient; build bridges in or culverts under said streets

or alleys, prevent or remove obstructions or encroachments over, under
or in the same; plant shade trees along the same, and prevent the
cumbering of streets, alleys, walks, public squares, lanes or bridges in
any manner whatsoever. |

Tenth. To acquire and own land suitable for stone quarries, or the
quarry rights in such lands; to take stone therefrom and to manufacture
the same into crushed stone for city uses.

Eleventh. To grant aid to military companies and to contribute to
the support of a band maintained within the city, to grant aid to lit-
erary, educational or benevolent organizations or institutions, and to
a public library, provided such action is not prohibited by the Constitu-
tion of the State, and that such organizations or institutions be located
in the city.

Twelfth. To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious or
other dangerous diseases; to establish a quarantine ground; to provide,
regulate, and maintain hospitals; to compel the removal of patients to
said hospitals; to appoint and organize a board of health or a depart-
ment of public welfare; to define its duties, and grant to it the necessary
authority effectually to discharge them.

Thirteenth. To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances
within the city at the expense of the person or persons causing the
same, or of the owner or occupant of the ground or premises whereon
the same may be; to require all lands, lots and other premises within
the city to be kept clean, sanitary and free from weeds or stagnant
water, or to make them so at the expense of the owners or occupants
thereof; to regulate or prevent slaughter houses or other noisome or
offensive business within the said city, the keeping of animals, poultry
or other fowl therein, or the exercise of any dangerous or unwholesome
business, trade or employment therein; to compel the abatement of
smoke and dust; to prevent unnecessary noise therein; to regulate the
location of stables, garages and gasoline filling stations, and the manner
in which they shall be kept and constructed; and generally, to define,
prohibit, abate, suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the
health, morals, safety, comfort, convenience and welfare of the in-
habitants of the city.

Fourteenth. To direct the location of all buildings for storing ex-
plosives or combustible substances; to regulate the sale and use of
gunpowder, nitro-glycerine, dynamite, fireworks, kerosene oil, gasoline,
or other combustible material; to regulate the exhibition of fireworks,
the discharge of firearms and the making of bonfires in the streets and
yards.

Fifteenth. To prescribe traffic regulations upon the streets, alleys,
and parkways of the city, not in conflict with general law, and shall
have full authority by ordinance to require all public conveyances, cabs,
buses, and trucks, operated by motor or other power, within the city,
or in and out of the city, to provide terminals at such points as shall
meet with the approval of the council, and to provide all reasonable
regulations governing the same, to regulate the operation and speed

of engines and cars upon the railroads within the city; to prevent any
sort of employment or sports in the public streets which is dangerous
or annoying to passers-by, and to prohibit and punish the abuse of
animals.

Sixteenth. To restrain and punish vagrants and mendicants; to
prevent vice and immorality; to preserve public peace and good order ;
to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assemblages; to
suppress houses of ill-fame and gaming houses and gambling devices
of all kinds; to prevent lewd, indecent and disorderly conduct or ex-
hibitions in the city, and to expel therefrom persons guilty of such
conduct who have resided therein less than one year.

Seventeenth. To remove, or require to be removed, any building,
walls, structure, or addition thereto which, by reason of dilapidation,
defect or structure, or other causes, may have become dangerous to
life or property, or which may be erected contrary to law.

Eighteenth. To provide for the regular and safe construction of
houses in the city for the future, and to provide a complete building
code for the city, and to provide setback lines on the streets beyond
which no building may be construced.

Nineteenth. To designate and prescribe from time to time the parts
of the city within which no buildings of wood shall be erected, and to
regulate the construction of buildings in the city so as to protect it
against danger from fire; and to enact an ordinance dividing the city
into zones under the provisions of the State law; and to provide for
a city planning commission and define its powers.

Twentieth. To provide any penalty for the violation of any city
ordinance, not exceeding five hundred dollars, or three months’ 1m-
prisonment in the city or Augusta county jail, or both.

Twenty-first. To pass all by-laws, rules and ordinances not re-
pugnant to the Constitution and laws of the State which it may deem
necessary for the good order and government of the city, the manage-
ment of its property, the conduct of its fiscal and municipal affairs, the
peace, comfort, convenience, order, morals, health and protection of
its citizens or their property, and do such other things and pass such
other laws as may be necessary or proper to carry into full effect any
power, authority, capacity, or jurisdiction, which is or shall be granted
to or vested in said city, or in the council, court or officers thereof, or
which may be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation.

Twenty-second. To provide for the due publication in the news-
papers or otherwise of its ordinances and resolutions.

Twenty-third. No ordinance hereafter passed or amended by the
council for the violation of which any penalty is imposed shall take
effect until the same shall have been published for five days consecu-
tively in one of the daily newspapers of said city to be designated
by the said council, or by handbills, as the council may direct; such
handbills shall be posted in at least ten public places in each ward of
the city; a certificate of such posting shall be filed by the sergeant in
the city clerk’s office.

Twenty-fourth. For the execution of its powers and duties the
council may raise annually, by taxes and assessments in said city, such
sums of money as it shall deem necessary to defray the expenses of the
same, and in such manner as it shall deem expedient, in accordance
with the laws of this State and of the United States, and may by
curative ordinance, ratify and confirm irregular assessments and levies
of taxes heretofore or hereafter made, and the acts of all ministerial
officers in connection therewith, and any such ordinance heretofore
passed is hereby ratified and confirmed. ,

Twenty-fifth. The council may provide, by ordinance, for the col-
lection of city taxes or levies on property at such times and with such
penalties for non-payment in time as may be fixed by ordinance.

Twenty-sixth. The council may levy a tax or a license on any per-
son, firm, or corporation conducting any business or profession what-
soever in the city, except when prohibited by general law, whether a
license may be required therefor by the State or not, and may exceed
the State license, if any be required.

CHAPTER II!
WARDS AND VACANCIES IN OFFICE

Section 12. The said city shall be divided into as many wards as
the council may determine in such manner as to include as nearly as
may be consistent with the well defined limits of said wards, an equal
number of votes in each ward.

Section 13. In case of a vacancy in the office of city treasurer, com-
missioner of the revenue, civil and police justice, or justices of the
peace, the council shall, subject to approval by the judge of the corpora-
tion court of the city, elect a qualified person to fill the office in which
such vacancy occurs until the next general election which may be held
in the city when the vacancy may be filled by election for the unexpired
term, and in case of a vacancy in the office of Commonwealth’s attorney,
clerk of the corporation court, or sergeant, the judge of the corporation
court shall appoint a qualified person to fill the office in which such
vacancy occurs until the next general election which may be held in
the city when the vacancy may be filled by election for the unexpired
term.

CHAPTER IV

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE

Section 14. The city council shall elect a city manager, who shall be
the administrative head of the municipal government. He shall be chosen
by the council without regard to his political belief and solely upon the
basis of his executive and administrative qualifications. The choice shall
not be limited to the inhabitants of the city or State unless otherwise re-
quired by the Constitution of the State. The city manager shall receive
such compensation as shall be fixed by the council by ordinance or reso-
lution. He shall be appointed for an indefinite period and shall serve at
the will of the council. During the absence or disability of the city man-
ager, the council shall designate some properly qualified person to per-
form his duties. ,

Section 15. The city manager shall be responsible to the council for
the efficient administration of all affairs of the city, and he shall be
vested with such administrative and executive powers of the municipal
government as are provided in sections two thousand nine hundred and
forty-three, two thousand nine hundred and forty-four, and two thou-
sand nine hundred and forty-five, under the city manager plan of the
Code of Virginia, and acts amendatory thereto, except that all ap-
pointments made by the city manager shall be subject to the approval
of the council.

Section 16. No person elected to the council, whether he quality
or not, shall during the term for which he was elected or twelve months
after the expiration of that time be elected by the council or appointed
by the city manager to any position of trust or office of trust or profit
of the city.

CHAPTER V
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

Section 17. City treasurer—The city treasurer shall give bond in
such sums as the council may prescribe, with surety to be approved by
the council, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his official duties
in relation to the revenue of the city and of such other official duties
as may be imposed upon him by this charter and the ordinances of the
city. He shall perform such duties, have such powers and be lable to
such penalties as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by the laws
of the State or the ordinances of the city made in pursuance thereof,
and for all services performed for the city, the treasurer shall receive
such compensation as the council may from time to time prescribe by
ordinance, subject to approval by the State Fee Commission, and in
the event said commission and the council shall not be able to agree on
the amount of such compensation, the matter shall be submitted to the
judge of the corporation court of the city for final determination.

Section 18. Commissioner of the revenue.—The commissioner of the
revenue shall give bond in such sum as the council may by ordinance
prescribe, with surety to be approved by the council, conditioned for
the faithful performance of all of his duties under this charter and
under any ordinance of the city. He shall perform such duties, have
such powers, and be liable to such penalties as may be prescribed by
the laws of the State or the ordinances of the city made in pursuance
thereof; and for all services performed for the city the said commis-
sioner of the revenue shall receive such compensation as the council
may from time to time prescribe by ordinance, subject to approval by
the State Fee Commission, and in the event said commission and the
council shall not be able to agree on the amount of such compensation,
the matter shall be submitted to the judge of the corporation court
of the city for final determination.

Section 19. The treasurer and commissioner of revenue may each
appoint one or more deputies provided the number of such appoint-

ments and the expenses of such offices shall be subject to approval of
the council and State Fee Commission; provided that if the council
and the commission fail to agree, the matter shall be submitted to the
judge of the corporation court of the city for final determination, but
the sureties of said officers, respectively, shall be equally liable for the
acts of said deputies as for those of their principals.

Section 20. The treasurer, city collector, or their deputies shall
have any or all of the powers which are now or may be hereafter vested
in any officer of the State charged with the collection of State taxes,
and may collect the same in the same manner in which State taxes are
collected by any officer of the State.

Section 21. All moneys received or collected for the use of the city
shall be paid over, held and disbursed as the council may order or
prescribe.

Section 22. There shall be a lien on real estate for the taxes as
assessed thereon from the commencement of the year from which they
were assessed, and there shall also be a lien on the real estate on which
local assessments for improvements may be made for the amount of
such assessments from the time the same is levied by the council.

Section 23. The council may, in the name and for the use of the
city, contract debts, and cause to be issued therefor notes or bonds,
in the manner prescribed by law and subject to all the restrictions 1m-
posed upon cities by the Constitution and general laws of the State.

Section 24. Debt commission.—There shall be a city debt commis-
sion appointed by the council, to serve without compensation, one of
the members of which shall be the city treasurer, under such regulations
as may be established by ordinance, and in conformity with any law
of the State applicable to the city and providing for or fixing the
duties of a city debt or sinking fund commission. It shall be the duty
of the debt commission to have charge of the administration of any
fund for the payment of the principal and interest of any bonds of the
city, and to perform such other duties regarding the debt of the city
as may be required by ordinance.

Section 25. There shall be set aside annually from the revenues
of the city a sinking fund equal to not less than one per centum on the
aggregate outstanding debt of the city in addition to the annual interest
agreed to be paid thereon, and whenever hereafter there shall be con-
tracted by the council any debt not payable in one year, there shall
annually be paid from the revenues of the city into the sinking fund,
for the payment of said bonds, an amount sufficient to pay said bonds
at or before maturity, which annual payment shall in no case be less
than one per centum of the par or face value of said bonds in addition
to the annual interest to be paid thereon. Said sinking fund shall be
applied to the debt or debts for the discharge of which it was created,
and until so applied shall be invested, with its accumulations of interest,
in bonds of the United States, or of the State of Virginia or of the
city of Staunton, or of any city or county in the State of Virginia.

Section 26. The council shall not appropriate any part of the sink-
ing fund or its accruing interest otherwise than as mentioned in the

preceding section, except in time of war, insurrection or invasion, and
then only by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to such
council.

Section 27. No debt shall be created by the council for a longer
period than four months unless the ordinance creating the same shall
have been introduced at some meeting of the council at least thirty
days before the same is passed ; but an amendment to such an ordinance
need not lie over for an additional thirty days.

CHAPTER VI
Pustic HicHways, ET CETERA

Section 28. The city shall not take, damage, or use any private
property for streets or any other public purposes without making just
compensation for the same, but where the city cannot obtain the title
to ground necessary for its purpose, it may proceed to condemn the
same in the mode prescribed by law.

Section 29. No order shall be made and no injunction shall be
granted by any judge or court of this Commonwealth to stay the pro-
ceedings of the city in the exercise of any power herein granted it over
its streets, unless it be manifest that it is exceeding its powers and that
the interposition of the court is necessary to prevent injury which can-
not be adequately compensated in damages.

Section 30. In every case where a street in said city has been or
shall be encroached upon by any fence, building or otherwise, the coun-
cil may require the owner, if known, or if unknown, the occupant of
the premises encroaching, to remove the same, and if such removal,
be not made within the time prescribed by the council, they may im-
pose a penalty of five dollars for each and every day it is allowed
to continue thereafter, and may cause the encroachment to be removed
and collect from the owner all reasonable charge therefor, with costs,
by the same process that they are hereinbefore empowered to collect
taxes. No encroachment upon any street, however long continued, shall
constitute an adverse possession to or confer any rights upon the person
claiming thereunder as against the said city.

Section 31. Whenever any street, alley or lane in said city shall
have been opened to and used as such by the public for the period of
five years, the same shall thereby become a street, alley or lane for
public purposes, and the council shall have the same authority and
jurisdiction over and rights and interest therein, as they have by law
over the streets, alleys and lanes laid out by them, and street or alley
reserved in the division or sub-division into lots of any portion of the
territory within the corporate limits of said city by a plot or plan of
record, shall be deemed and held to be dedicated to public use, unless it
appears by said record that the said street or alley so reserved is
designed for private use; but upon a petition of a majority of the
persons interested therein, the council shall have the power to open the
same for the use of the public.

Section 32. City planning commission——The council may appoint
a city planning commission of five citizens, chosen because of their
interest in and knowledge of city planning, whose powers and duties
shall be prescribed by the council by ordinance, who shall serve without
compensation.

Section 33. No action shall be maintained against the said city
for damages for any injury to any person or property alleged to have
been sustained by reason of the negligence of the city or of any officer,
agent, or employee thereof, unless a written statement, verified by the
oath of the claimant, his agent or attorney, or the personal representative
of any decedent, whose death is the result of the alleged negligence
of the city, its officers, agents, or employees, of the nature of the claim
and the time and place at which the injury is alleged to have occurred
to have been received, shall have been filed with the city attorney of
said city within sixty days after such cause or action shall have oc-
curred. And no officers, agents or employees of the city shall have
authority to waive such conditions precedent or any of them.

Section 34. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act
and former charters and amendments thereof for the city of Staunton
are hereby repealed; and all acts and parts of acts in any way con-
cerning the city of Staunton and the rights of the people thereof, or any
of them, not inconsistent with this act, shall be in full force, to all
intents and purposes, as if this act had never been passed.

Section 35. All ordinances now in force in said city, not inconsistent
with this act, the laws of this State and of the United States, shall be
and remain in force until altered, amended or repealed by said council.

2. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its passage.