CHAPTER 391

An Act to amend and reenact § 144 (c) of Chapter 34, as amended, of the
Acts of Assembly of 1918, approved February 7, 1918, which chapter
provided a new charter for the city of Norfolk and which section re-
lates to the powers and duties of the Norfolk Port Authority.

{S 101]
Approved March 15, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 144 (c) of Chapter 34, as amended, of the Acts of Assembly
of 1918, approved February 7, 1918, be amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 144 (c). Such port authority shall have the following powers:

(a) To adopt and use a corporate seal, and to alter the same at its
pleasure.

(b) To acquire, hold and dispose of such personal property as may be
necessary for its purpose.

(c) To acquire by purchase or lease, on such terms and conditions,
and in such manner as it may deem proper, except by condemnation or by
gift, such real property or such rights, easements or estates therein, as
may be necessary for its purposes, and to sell, lease and dispose of the
same, or any portion thereof or interest therein, whenever it shall become
expedient to do so.

(d) To acquire, lease, construct or maintain and operate, landings,
wharves, docks and piers, commodity elevators, and the approaches to
and appurtenances thereof, tracks, spurs, crossings, switchings, terminals,
warehouses and terminal facilities of every kind and description neces-
sary or useful in the transportation and storage of goods, wares and
merchandise, to perform any and all services at said facilities in connection
with the receipt, delivery, shipment and transfer in transit, weighing,
marking, tagging, ventilating, fumigating, refrigerating, icing, storing and
handling of goods, wares and merchandise, to prescribe and collect charges
from vessels coming into or using any landings, wharves, docks, piers
and commodity elevators operated and maintained by said authority and
from persons using any of the other facilities of the authority, and to
lease any and all of such facilities or any concessions properly incident
thereto to any person, firm or corporation for the maintenance and opera-
tion of any and all of such facilities on such terms and conditions as it
may deem proper.

(e) To acquire, purchase, construct, lease, operate, maintain and
undertake, when and as authorized by the council of the city of Norfolk
by formal ordinance, any * wholesale market facility for merchants, deal-
ers and farmers engaged in the marketing of perishable farm produce, *
fruits, vegetables, poultry, eggs, horticultural products, dairy products,
meats, sea food, dry groceries, frozen foods and in the operation of freezing
and prepackaging plants and in the furnishing of baskets and containers
for farm produce and other articles handled at said market, to make
charges for the use thereof with such facility being classed as a public
utility within the meaning of this act.

(f) To acquire, purchase, construct, lease, operate, maintain and
undertake any passenger bus or railroad passenger terminal facility and
to make charges for the use thereof.

(g) To acquire, for the purpose of encouraging major industry and
manufacturing, real property and to construct thereon any structures,
including all equipment, appurtenances and accessories necessary or ap-
propriate for such uses and purposes, and to sell or lease the same, or any
part thereof, for industrial or manufacturing uses and purposes. The
CHS. 391, 392] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 437

authority granted in this paragraph shall not be exercised in any case
where the aggregate cost of land and structures for any single project is
less than $500,000.00. Nothing in this Section (g) shall be construed as
permitting any facility primarily designed for the parking or storage of
automobiles as a separate and distinct project. .

(h) To maintain and operate any airport and air navigational
facilities now or hereafter owned by the city of Norfolk with the
same powers and authority thereover in the operation and maintenance
thereof that said city may have, subject, however, to the provisions of
Section 144 (d).

(i) To make capital improvements on any airport and air navigational
facility now or hereafter owned by the city of Norfolk and transferred
to said authority to operate and maintain, with the same powers to issue
its bonds therefor as it has for its other purposes, subject to the approval
of the council of the city of Norfolk.

(j) To foster and stimulate the commerce of the Port of Norfolk
and the shipment of freight through such port and to investigate and
handle matters pertaining to all transportation rate structures affecting
the commerce of the port.

(k) To establish, acquire, lease, maintain and operate, within the
corporate limits of the city, a public transportation system, when and as
authorized by the council of the city of Norfolk.

To extend the operation and maintenance of such transportation sys-
tem in territory adjoining the city of Norfolk when and as authorized
so to do by the governing body of the political subdivision in which ex-
tended and as otherwise provided by law.

(1) To establish, acquire, lease, maintain and operate such other
public utilities as may be required of said port authority by the council of
the city of Norfolk and as may be otherwise authorized by law.

(m) To fix and charge tolls, fees and other charges for the use of, or
for services rendered by, any of the facilities it is authorized hereunder
to maintain and operate.

(n) To appoint and employ such officers, agents and employees as
may be necessary to carry out the purposes of said authority, to fix their
compensation and to prescribe their duties.

(o) To do all other acts and things which may be reasonably neces-
sary and convenient to carry out the purposes and powers given herein.

The powers conferred upon the authority by this section except the
powers conferred by clauses (h), (i), (j), and (k) of this section shall be
exercised solely within the corporate limits of the city of Norfolk; pro-
vided further that rentals and charges for any and all facilities con-
structed and/or operated pursuant to clauses (f) and (g) shall, as near
as possible, be at commercial rates for like facilities or services, and include
a sum equivalent to real estate taxes at current rates on such property.

Whenever in this act approval of the council of the city of Norfolk is
required to enable the Norfolk Port Authority to exercise any power here-
in granted it, such approval shall be only by a formal ordinance.

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