CHAPTER 251

AN ACT to amend and reenact §§ 2.08, 3.05, 5.05, 5.09, 5.11, 6.19,
6.20, 7.05, 8.08, 9.14, 9.15, 12.05, 12.06, 17.12, 19.10 and 20.06
of Chapter 116 of the Acts of the General Assembly of Vir-
ginia of 1948 providing a new charter for the City of Rich-
mond concerning the powers of the Council of the City of
Richmond relating to public works, utilities and properties;
the nomination and election of clerks of courts of record
in said city; the duties of the city manager; the functions
of the bureau of purchasing; the sale of property by the
purchasing agent; the capital budget; the certification of
funds; the authentication of bonds; the powers and duties
of the director of finance; residence of officers and em-
ployees; the preference allowed in the employment of war
veterans and promotions thereof; the grading of streets;
the assessment of the cost of certain public improvements
against abutting landowners; the changing of district boun-
daries established by zoning regulations; the jurisdiction of
the traffic court; and the interest of city officers and em-
ployees in contracts with the city.

[ H 295 ]

Approved April 3, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

That §§ 2.038, 3.05, 5.05, 5.09, 5.11, 6.19, 6.20, 7.05, 8.08,
, 9.15, 12.05, 12.06, 17.12, 19.10 and 20.06 of chapter 116 of
Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia of 1948, providing
w charter for the City of Richmond, be amended and re-
ted as follows: .

§ 2.038. Powers relating to public works, utilities and prop-
s.—In addition to the powers granted by other sections of
charter the city shall have power:

(a) To lay out, open, extend, widen, narrow, establish or
ge the grade of, close, construct, pave, curb, gutter, adorn
shade trees, otherwise improve, maintain, repair, clean and
, streets, including limited access or express highways, al-
bridges, viaducts, subways and underpasses, and make and
ove walkways upon streets and improve and pave alleys
in the city; and the city shall have the same power and au-
ity over any street, alley or other public place ceded or con-
d to the city or dedicated or devoted to public use as over
r streets, alleys and other public places.

(b) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
in and without the city, public parks, parkways, playfields
playgrounds, and to lay out, equip and improve them with
litable devices, buildings and other structures.

(c) To collect and dispose of garbage and other refuse and
nstruct, maintain and operate, within and without the city,
ierators, dumps or other facilities for such purposes.

(d) To construct, maintain and operate, within and with-
he city, sewers, drains, culverts and sewage disposal works.
(e) To assess the whole or part of the cost of making
improving walkways on then existing streets, improving or
paving existing alleys, or constructing sewers, culverts and
drains, upon the owners of land abutting thereon or on the street
or alley in which such sewer, culvert or drain is laid in the man-
ner provided in § 12.06 of this charter, provided that the amount
of such assessment shall not exceed the peculiar benefit resulting
to the landowner from the improvement; provided further, that
in lieu of any such assessment for the construction of a sewer,
culvert or drain, the city may assess and collect an annual sewer
tax as compensation for the use thereof, and may provide for
the commutation thereof upon such terms and conditions as the
council may provide by ordinance, but such assessment shall not
be in excess of the peculiar benefit resulting therefrom to such
abutting landowners; and provided further, that the city may
acquire by condemnation or otherwise any interest or right of
any owner of abutting property in the use of any sewer, culvert
or drain, and thereafter charge such landowner for the use of
such sewer, culvert or drain. The city may order such improve-
ments to be made and the cost thereof apportioned in pursuance
of an agreement between the city and the abutting landowners. *

(f{) To construct, maintain and equip all buildings and
other structures necessary or useful in carrying out the powers
and duties of the city.

(zg) To sell, lease or dispose of, except as otherwise pro-
vided in this charter and in the constitution and laws of the
Commonwealth, land, buildings and other property of the city,
real and personal.

(h) To control and regulate the use and management of all
property of the city, real and personal.

(i) To acquire, construct and maintain or authorize the
construction and maintenance of bridges, viaducts, subways or
underpasses over or under the James River or any other stream,
creek or ravine when any portion of such bridge, viaduct, sub-
way or underpass is within the city limits, and to charge or au-
thorize the charging of tolls for their use by the public, and to
require compensation for their use by public utility, transmis-
sion or transportation companies, except as the right to require
such compensation is affected by any contract heretofore or
hereafter made with the company concerned; provided that no
tolls or compensation shall ever be imposed or collected for the
use of ‘“‘“Robert E. Lee Bridge” by any vehicle or pedestrian.

(j) To authorize by ordinance, in accordance*with the con-
stitution and laws of the Commonwealth, the use of the streets
for the laying down of street railway tracks and the operation
of street railways therein under such conditions and regulations
as may be prescribed by such ordinance or by any future ordi-
nance, or to acquire by agreement or condemnation any such
street railway and maintain and operate the same.
(k) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate, with-
in and without the city, places for the parking or storage of
vehicles by the public, which shall include but shall not be limited
to parking lots, garages, buildings and other land, structures,
equipment and facilities, when in the opinion of the council they
are necessary to relieve congestion in the use of streets and to
reduce hazards incident to such use; provide for their manage-
ment and control by a department of the city government or by
a board, commission or agency specially established by ordinance
for the purpose; authorize or permit others to use, operate or
maintain such places or any portions thereof, pursuant to lease
or agreement, upon such terms and conditions as the council
may determine by ordinance; and charge or authorize the charg-
ing of compensation for the parking or storage of vehicles or
other services at or in such places.

(1) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
within and without the city airports and all the appurtenances
thereof; provide for their management and control by a depart-
ment of the city government or by a board, commission or agency
specially established by ordinance for the purpose; charge or
authorize the charging of compensation for the use of any such
airport or any of its appurtenances; lease any appurtenance of
any such airport or any concession incidental thereto or, in the
discretion of the council, lease any such airport and its appur-
tenances with the right to all concessions thereon to, or enter
into a contract for the management and operation of the same
with, any person, firm or corporation on such terms and condi-
tions as the council may determine by ordinance.

(m) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
within and without the city, stadia, arenas, swimming pools
and other sport facilities; provide for their management and
control by a department of the city government or by a board,
commission or agency specially established by ordinance for
the purpose; charge or authorize the charging of compensation
for the use of or admission to such stadia, arenas, swimming
pools and other sport facilities, including charges for any serv-
ices incidental thereto; lease, subject to such regulations as may
be established by ordinance, any such stadium, arena, swimming
pool or other sport facility or any concession incidental thereto,
or enter into a contract with any person, firm or corporation for
the management and operation of any such stadium, arena,
swimming pool or other sport facility, including the right to all
concessions incident to the subject of such contract, on such
terms and conditions as the council may determine by ordinance.

(n) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
within and without the city, water works, gas plants and electric
plants with the pipe and transmission lines incident thereto, to
be managed and controlled as provided in Chapter 13 of this
charter, for the purpose of supplying water, gas and electricity
within and without the city, and to charge and collect compensa-
ae therefor and to provide penalties for the unauthorized use
thereof.

(o) To acquire, construct, own, maintain, and operate,
within and without the city, landings, wharves, docks, canals
and the approaches to and appurtenances thereof, tracks, spurs,
crossings, switchings, terminals, warehouses and terminal facili-
ties of every kind and description necessary or useful in the
transportation and storage of goods, wares and merchandise;
perform any and all services in connection with the receipt,
delivery, shipment and transfer in transit, weighing, marking,
tagging, ventilating, refrigerating, icing, storing and handling
of goods, wares and merchandise; prescribe and collect charges
from vessels coming into or using any of the landings, wharves
and docks, and from persons using any of the facilities above
described; provide for the management and control of such
facilities or any of them by a department of the city government
or by a board, commission or agency specially established by
ordinance for the purpose; lease any or all of such facilities or
any concessions properly incident thereto to any person firm or
corporation, or contract with any person, firm or corporation
for the maintenance and operation of any or all of such facili-
ties on such terms and conditions as the council may determine
by ordinance; apply to the proper authorities of the United
States to grant to the city the privilege of establishing, main-
taining and operating a foreign trade zone within or without the
city; regulate the use of other landings, wharves and docks lo-
cated on the James River within and without the city; prevent
and remove obstructions from the harbor of the James River and
in, upon or near the landings, wharves, docks or canals adjacent
thereto, and collect from the person or persons responsible for
such obstructions the cost of their removal; close or discontinue
the use of any such wharf, landing, dock or canal now owned or
hereafter acquired by the city and upon the closing or discon-
tinuance of such use the same shall thereupon be forever dis-
charged from any public use or easement or from any obligation
theretofore imposed by reason of such public use or easement by
statute or otherwise, provided that before the dock or any part
thereof conveyed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company
to the William R. Trigg Company, by deed dated June 1, 1901, in
accordance with the provisions of the act of assembly approved
February 15, 1901, shall be closed or filled in, the city, at its
sole cost and expense, shall make provision for disposing of the
water required by said act to be delivered into said dock and
shall, at its cost and expense, maintain the provision so made,
and in the event of such abandonment, closing or discontinuance
of the use of such landing, wharf, dock or canal the city shall
have the right to use or dispose of the land upon which the said
landing, wharf, dock or canal may be located, together with all
lands or other rights appurtenant thereto, to the same extent as
if the said landing, wharf, dock, canal or lands, or right thereto
belonging, had never been charged with any public use or ease-
ment; improve and keep in good, safe and navigable condition
the James River in the corporate limits and within twenty miles
thereof, and may hold, lease, sell or otherwise dispose of all
lands or interest therein acquired for the improvement of the
James River and navigation and for the construction of canals
or widening the river; and provide and operate such connections
by ferries, bridges, or otherwise, as may be necessary for trans-
portation between the section of land divided by such canals.

§ 3.05. Election of other city officers.—All other city
officers required by the laws of the Commonwealth to be elected
by the qualified voters of the city other than the clerks of the
courts of record shall be elected on the first Tuesday following
the first Monday in November preceding the expiration of the
terms of office of their respective predecessors, for such terms
as are prescribed by law. All such elective officers shall be nomi-
nated and elected as provided in the general laws of the Com-
monwealth. The clerks of the courts of record shall be nomi-
nated and elected at the time, for the terms and in the manner
prescribed by the general laws of the Commonwealth. A vacancy
in the office of commissioner of revenue shall be filled by the
council by majority vote of all its members for the unexpired
portion of the term. Vacancies in all other elective offices re-
ferred to in this section shall be filled for the unexpired portion
of the term as follows: in the office of clerk of a court by the
court; in the office of sheriff by the circuit court of the city; in
the office of attorney for the Commonwealth, city treasurer or
city sergeant, by the hustings court of the City of Richmond;
or in any of the above cases, by the judge of the designated
court in vacation. The officers so elected or appointed shall
qualify in the mode prescribed by law and shall continue in
office until their successors are elected and qualified.

§ 5.05. Duties.—It shall be the duty of the city manager
to: (a) attend all meetings of the council with the right to
speak but not to vote; (b) keep the council advised of the finan-
cial condition and the future needs of the city and of all mat-
ters pertaining to its proper administration, and make such
recommendations as may seem to him desirable; (c) prepare
and submit the annual budget to the council as provided in
Chapter 6 of this charter and be responsible for its administra-
tion after its adoption; (d) prepare in suitable form for pub-
lication and submit to the council not later than its first meet
ing in September of each year a concise, comprehensive report
of the financial transactions and administrative activities of the
city government during the fiscal year ending on the preceding
thirtieth day of June and cause to be printed such number of
copies thereof as the council shall direct; (e) present adequate
financial and activity reports at each regular meeting of the
council; and (f) perform such other duties as may be prescribed
by this charter or required of him in accordance therewith by
the council or which may be required of the chief executive
officer of a city by the general laws of the Commonwealth other
than the duties conferred on the mayor by this charter; pro-
vided, however, that the appointment of members of a redevelop-
ment and housing authority in the city shall be made by the
council.

§ 5.09. Bureau of purchasing.—There shall be a bureau
of purchasing, the head of which shall be the purchasing agent
who shall be appointed for an indefinite term by the city man-
ager and be a member of the classified service. He shall be a
person skilled in private business purchasing or governmental
purchasing, and property control and accountability. He shall,
pursuant to the provisions of this charter and to such rules and
regulations consistent therewith as may be established by the
council, purchase or lease for the use of the city and all its
departments, bureaus, boards, commissions, offices, agencies,
courts of record, * municipal courts, and city jail, hereinafter
in this charter referred to as using agencies, all supplies, mate-
rials, equipment and contractual services, including insurance
and surety bonds, except the following: scientific instruments
and equipment, medicines and drugs, legal and scientific books
and periodicals, and printing of legal briefs; manuscripts, maps,
charts, sheet music, phonograph records, books, pamphlets and
periodicals, when ordered by any city public library; such per-
ishable articles as may be designated in the rules and regula-
tions established by ordinance; and such supplies, materials,
equipment and contractual services as may be required by any
using agency in an emergency as defined in the said rules and
regulations. The services of the purchasing agent shall be avail-
able to the school board whenever it wishes to make use thereof.

§ 5.11. Competitive bidding.—Before making a purchase
or contract the purchasing agent shall give opportunity for com-
petitive bidding under such rules and regulations as may be es-
tablished by the council. All single purchases or contracts which
shall involve an expenditure of one thousand dollars or less shall,
whenever practicable, be based on three or more competitive bids
which may be informal, and shall be awarded to the lowest re-
sponsible bidder, except as hereinafter provided. If any single
purchase or contract involves an expenditure of more than one
thousand dollars it shall be made on the basis of sealed bids
after such public notice as may be prescribed by the council.
The city manager, however, shall have the power in respect of
all purchases or contracts involving an expenditure of ten thou-
sand dollars or less, and the council in all other cases, to author-
ize the purchasing agent to reject any or all bids, to readvertise
for bids, or to make the purchase or contract in the open market
either after the rejection of all bids or before competitive bids
have been requested. The council shall further have power in the
rules and regulations provided for in § 5.09 to authorize the pur-
chasing agent, with the approval of the city manager, to pur-
chase or make contracts for professional services and for serv-
ices for which the rate or price is fixed by a public authority
authorized by law to fix rates or prices, without recourse to com-
petitive bidding. All sales by the purchasing agent, whenever
practicable, shall be made on the basis of competitive bids after
such public notice as may be prescribed by the council in rules
and regulations established by tt and when there has been com-
petitive bidding all sales shall be made to the highest responsible
bidder; provided, however, the purchasing agent shall have au-
thority to reject any or all bids and to order new bidding, or, with
the approval of the city manager, make the sale to anyone,
whether a former bidder or not, without further bidding. A
record of all bids, showing the names of the bidders and the
amounts of the bids and indicating in each case the successful
bidder, together with the originals of all sealed bids and other
documents pertaining to the award of contracts, shall be pre-
served by the purchasing agent for six years in a file which
shall be open to public inspection during regular business hours.
No transaction which is essentially a unit shall be divided for
the purpose of evading the intent of this section.

§ 6.19. Capital budget. At the same time that he submits
the current expense budgets the city manager shall submit to
the council a program previously acted upon by the city plan-
ning commission, as provided in Chapter 17 of this charter, of
proposed capital improvement projects, * for the ensuing fiscal
year and for the four fiscal years thereafter, with his recom-
mendations as to the means of financing the improvements pro-
posed for the ensuing fiscal year. The council shall have power
to accept with or without amendments or reject the proposed
program and proposed means of financing of the ensuing fiscal
year; and may from time to time during the fiscal year amend
by ordinance adopted by at least six affirmative votes the pro-
gram previously adopted by it or the means of financing the
whole or any part thereof or both, provided that the amendment
shall have been recommended by the city manager and the city
planning commission shall have reported thereon to the coun-
cil and such additional funds as may be required to finance the
cost of the improvements are available in the general fund or
in the reserve fund for permanent public improvements or in
the water works, gas works or electric works renewal funds.
* The council shall adopt a * capital budget prior to the begin-
ning of the fiscal year in which the budget is to take effect.
* No appropriation for a capital improvement project contained
in the capital budget shall lapse until the purpose for which the
appropriation was made shall have been accomplished or aban-
doned, provided that any project shall be deemed to have been
abandoned if three fiscal years elapse without any expenditure
from or encumbrance of the appropriation therefor. Any such
lapsed appropriation shall be applied to the payment of any
indebtedness incurred in financing the project concerned and if
there be no such indebtedness shall be available for appropria-
tion in the next capital budget.

§ 6.20. Certification of funds, penalties for violation.—
No payment shall be made and no obligation incurred by or on
behalf of the city or the school board except in accordance with
an appropriation duly made and no payment shall be made from
or obligation incurred against any allotment or appropriation
unless the director of finance shall first certify that there is a
sufficient unexpended and unencumbered balance in such al-
lotment or appropiation to meet the same; provided that noth-
ing herein shall be taken to prevent the advance authorization
of expenditures for small purchases as provided in subsection
(e) of § 8.03 of this charter. Every expenditure or obligation
authorized or incurred in violation of the provisions of this
charter shall be void. Every payment made in violation of the
provisions of this charter shall be deemed illegal and every offi-
cial who shall knowingly authorize or make such payment or
knowingly take part therein and every person who shall know-
ingly receive such payment or any part thereof shall be jointly
and severally liable to the city for the full amount so paid or
received. If any officer, member of a board or commission, or
employee of the city or of the school board, shall knowingly incur
any obligation or shall authorize or make any expenditure in vio-
lation of the provisions of this charter or knowingly take part
therein such action shall be cause for his removal. Nothing in
this section contained, however, shall prevent the making of
contracts of lease or for services providing for the payment of
funds at a time beyond the fiscal year in which such contracts
are made, provided the nature of such transactions will reason-
ably require the making of such contracts.

§ 7.05. Form and term of bonds.—All bonds shall be in
serial form payable, as consecutively numbered, in annual in-
stallments, the first of which shall be payable not more than one
year from the date of issue of such bonds and no such install-
ment shall be more than five percent in excess of the smallest
previous installment. * Bonds shall be authenticated by the
manual signature of the director of finance and shall bear the
facsimile signature of the city manager and a facsimile of the
seal of the city attested by the facsimile signature of the city
clerk. Interest coupons transferable by delivery shall be attached
to the bonds and shall be authenticated by the facsimile signa-
tures of the city manager and director of finance. All bonds
shall be made payable within the probable hfe of the improve-
ment or undertaking on account of which they are to be issued
or, if the bonds are to be issued for several improvements or
undertakings, within the average probable life of such improve-
ments or undertakings. In the case of a bond issue for several
improvements or undertakings having different probable periods
of usefulness the council shall determine the average of said
periods, taking into consideration the amount of bonds to be
issued on account of each purpose, and the period so determined
shall be the average period of usefulness. The determination
of the council] as to the probable life of any such improvement
or undertaking shall be conclusive. Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this charter no bonds shall be payable more than thirty
years after their date of issuance.

§ 8.08. Director of finance—powers and duties.—The
director of finance shall have general management and control
of the several bureaus, divisions and other units of the depart-
ment. He shall appoint and remove, subject to the provisions
of Chapter 9 of this charter, all officers and employees of the
department and shall have power to make rules and regulations
consistent with this charter and the ordinances of the city for
the conduct of its business. He shall have charge, subject to
the direction and control of the city manager, of the administra-
tion of the financial affairs of the city and to that end shall have
authority and be required to:

(a) Cooperate with the city manager and budget officer in
compiling estimates for the current expense and capital budgets.

(b) Supervise and control all encumbrances, expenditures
and disbursements to insure that budget appropriations are not
exceeded.

(c) Prescribe and install systems of accounts for all de-
partments, courts, boards, commissions, offices and agencies of
the city and provide instructions for their use; and prescribe
the form of receipts, vouchers, bills or claims to be used and of
accounts to be kept by all departments, courts, boards, commis-
sions, offices and agencies of the city, including the school board
except for such accounts as are kept by employees of the school
board, * and * in so doing he shall consult with the auditor of
municipal accounts. *

(d) Require daily, or at such other intervals as he may
deem expedient, a report of receipts from each of such depart-
ments, courts, boards, commissions, offices and agencies, includ-
ing the school board, and prescribe the times at and the manner
in which moneys received by them shall be paid to the office of
the director of finance or deposited in a city bank account under
his control.

(e) Examine all contracts, purchase orders and other docu-
ments, except bonds and notes authorized as provided in Chap-
ter 7, which create financial obligations against the city or the
school board, and approve the same only upon ascertaining that
money has been appropriated and allotted therefor and that an
unexpended and unencumbered balance is available in such
appropriation and allotment to meet the same, provided that the
director of finance may give advance authorization for the
expenditure from any appropriation for the purchase of sup-
plies, materials or equipment of such sum, within the current
allotment of such appropriation, as he may deem necessary dur-
ing a period of not to exceed three months for the purchase of
items not to exceed in cost twenty-five dollars for any one item,
and immediately encumber such appropriation with the amount
of such advance authorization, and thereafter, within the period
specified, purchase orders for such items, to an aggregate not
exceeding such authorization, shall be valid without the prior
approval of the director of finance endorsed thereon, but each
such purchase order shall be charged against such authorization
and no such purchase order, which together with all such pur-
chase orders previously charged within the period specified shall
exceed the amount of such authorization, shall be valid.

(f) Have custody of all funds belonging to the city and
the school board and deposit all funds coming into his hands
to the account of the city or the school board, as the case may
be, in such banks as may be designated for the purpose by the
council and the school board, respectively, * and he shall not be
liable for any loss sustained as to funds of the city or the school
board that are on deposit in such a designated bank.

(zg) Audit before payment, for legality and correctness,
all accounts, claims and demands against the city, and no money
shall be drawn from any bank account of the city or school
board except by warrant or check, signed by the director of
finance, based upon a voucher duly approved by him as above
provided.

(h) Have custody of all investments and invested funds of
the city or in its possession in a fiduciary capacity, unless other-
wise provided by this charter or by law, ordinance or the terms
of any trust, and the safekeeping of all bonds and notes of the
city and the receipt and delivery of city bonds and notes for
transfer, registration and exchange.

(i) Submit to the city manager for presentation to the
council and to the superintendent of schools for presentation to
the school board, not later than the tenth day of each month, a
statement concerning the financial transactions of the city and
each utility and of the school board, respectively, prepared in
accordance with accepted principles of municipal accounting
and budgetary procedure, and showing: (1) the amount of
each appropriation with transfers to and from the same, the al-
lotments thereof to the end of the preceding month, the encum-
brances and expenditures charged against such appropriation
and the allotments thereof during the preceding month, the total
of such charges for the fiscal year to the end of the preceding
month, and the unencumbered balance remaining in such appro-
priation and the allotments thereof; (2) the revenue estimated
to be received from each source, the actual receipts from each
source for the preceding month, the total receipts from each
source for the fiscal year to the end of the preceding month,
and the balance remaining to be collected.

(j) Furnish to the head of each department, court, board,
commission, office and agency of the city a copy of that portion of
the statement relating to such department, court, board, com-
mission, office or agency.

(k) Prepare and submit to the city manager at the end of
each fiscal year, for the preceding year, a complete financial
statement and report of the financial transactions of the city, and
to the school board a complete financial statement and report of
the financial transactions of the school board.

(1) Designate, with the approval of the city manager, an
employee of the department of finance as deputy director of
finance who during the temporary absence or incapacity of the
director of finance shall have and perform all the powers and
duties conferred or imposed upon the director of finance.

(m) Authorize the deputy director of finance and such
other employees as he may deem necessary, and under such rules
and regulations as he may establish, to affix his signature to
checks and other documents.

(n) Protect the interests of the city by withholding the
payment of any claim or demand by any person, firm or cor-
poration against the city until any indebtedness or other lia-
bility due from such person, firm or corporation shall first have
been settled and adjusted.

§ 9.14. Residence of employees.—All regular permanent
officers and employees of the city in both the classified and
unclassified services shall reside within the city during their
continuance in such office or employment; provided, however,
the council may authorize any such officer or employee who
renders service on property lying beyond or contiguous or ad-
jyacent to the boundaries of the city, owned, leased or otherwise
controlled by the city, to reside without the boundaries thereof.
If any such officer or employee shall cease to be a resident of
the city, unless otherwise authorized by the council, his office
or employment shall be deemed to have been vacated.

§ 9.15. Veteran’s preference.—Any person who has served
in time of war in the army, navy, air corps, marine corps or
coast guard of the United States and has been honorably dis-
charged therefrom shall be entitled to have added to his rating
in any examination held for original appointments in the classi-
fied service under the provisions of this chapter ten points on a
scale of one hundred if he is eligible for disability compensa-
tion or pension from the United States through the Veterans
Administration, or five points on a scale of one hundred if he
is not so eligible, provided that he shall be within the age limit
specified for appointment to the position or class of position for
which the examination is held, is physically capable of perform-
ing the duties of such position, and attains in the examination
without such added points the minimum rating prescribed for
the passage of such examination.

§ 12.05. Grading of streets —* The city manager may
grade or change the grade of any street, alley or public place
within the city. If the work be of such a nature as may cause
damage to the abutting landowners it shall be the duty of the
* city manager to ascertain what damages, if any, will accrue
to the owners of the property likely to be so affected. It shall
further be the duty of the * city manager, such ascertainment
having been made, to give such notice and hearings and to make
such reports and proceed in such manner as is required by sec-
tions * 15-767, 15-768 and 15-769 of the Code of Virginia. The
amount finally ascertained, in the manner provided in the said
sections, to be due to any property owner shall have the effect of
a judgment in favor of the property owner and against the city
as of the date of such final ascertainment, which judgment may
be enforced by proper proceedings before any court of record
having jurisdiction of civil actions at law within the city.

§ 12.06. Assessment of the cost of’ certain improvements
upon abutting landowners.—* The assessment of the whole or
any portion of the cost of any improvement, as provided in
subsection (e) of § 2.03 of this charter, shall be made by the
city manager. Before he shall assess the whole or any portion
of the cost of such improvement, he shall cause notice to be
given to the abutting landowners as required by §§ 15-669 tc
15-671, both inclusive, and 15-674 of the Code of Virginia, and
all further proceedings in relation to such assessment shall be
governed by the provisions of §§ 15-669 to 15-676, both inclu-
sive, of the Code of Virginia relating to notice, hearings, appeals
and procedural matters; and it shall be the duty of the city
manager to perform all duties which under said sections may
be performed by the council or any officer of the city.

§ 17.12. Considerations to be observed in adoption and
alteration of regulations.—The regulations and restrictions
shall be enacted with reasonable consideration, among other
things of the character of each district and its peculiar suit-
ability for, particular uses and with a view of conserving the
value of land, buildings and structures and encouraging the most
appropriate use thereof throughout the city. Upon the enact-
ment of the ordinance dividing the city into districts and regu-
lating and restricting the use of land, buildings and structures
therein in accordance with a comprehensive zoning plan no
land, building or structure shall be changed from one district
to another district unless the change is in accord with the inter-
est and purposes of this section and will not be contrary to the
comprehensive zoning plan and the enumerated factors upon
which it is based and the regulations and restrictions applicable
to the districts involved in the change. No change in district
boundaries shall be made so as to include less than the entire
area fronting on the same street in one block, but such change
need not include such portions of corner lots as may be within
one hundred feet of the street line of the intersecting streets
which bound the block, and in blocks where the frontage on the
same street is one thousand feet or more the change need not
include more than seven hundred and fifty continuous feet
thereof; provided, however, changes may be made in district
boundaries so as to include such portion of corner lots as may
be within one hundred feet of the street line of intersecting
streets which bound the block. Changes involving lesser areas
than the above may be made when the change consists of the
inclusion of the balance of the frontage on the same street in
any one block in the same district in which the major portion
of such frontage is already included.

§ 19.10. Jurisdiction of traffic court.—The traffic court
and the judge thereof shall succeed, replace and have the same
jurisdiction, powers and duties with respect to the general con-
duct of the court and the trial of all offenses against the Motor
Vehicle Code of Virginia and the Virginia Operators’ and Chauf-
feurs’ License Act, and ordinances and administrative regula-
tions of the city adopted in accordance therewith, as were pos-
sessed by the police court of the City of Richmond and the police
justice thereof or police court, part II, of the City of Richmond
and the police justice thereof at the effective date of this charter.
The traffic court and the judge thereof shall also have jurisdic-
tion, powers and duties with resvect to the trial of all offenses
against Title 46 of the Code of Virginia, chapter 13 of Title 58
of the Code of Virginia and § 18-75 to § 18-79, both inclusive,
of the Code of Virginia as they now exist or as they may be
hereafter amended, codified or reenacted, and ordinances and
administrative regulations of the city adopted in accordance
therewith. The territorial jurisdiction of the traffic court and
the judge thereof shall include the entire area bounded by the
corporate limits of the city, including the capitol square or any
housing or other authority within the city.

§ 20.06. Officers must not be interested in contracts.—
No officer or employee of the city shall be interested in any con-
tract entered into by the city with any person, firm or corpora-
tion, but this prohibition shall not apply to nonsalaried officers
or unsalaried members of boards and commissions in respect of
contracts other than those in the making of which they have a
part as officers or members of such boards or commissions.
2. An emergency exists and this act shall be in force from its
passage.