CHAPTER 234

Ax Act to amend and reenact § 9, as amended, of Chapter 18 of the
Acts of Assembly of 1946, approved February 18, 1946, which pro-
vided a new charter for the town of Wytheville, the section relating
to powers of the town.

(H 227]

Approved March 31, 1966

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 9, as amended, of Chapter 18 of the Acts of Assembly of
1946, approved February 18, 1946, be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 9. In addition to the powers elsewhere enumerated in this charter
and the powers conferred by general law and the Constitution, the town
of Wytheville shall have the following powers:

(1) To raise annually, by levy of taxes and assessments in the said
town, on all such property, real and personal, as is now or may be subject
to taxation by towns by the laws of this Commonwealth, such sums of
money as the council thereof shall deem necessary for the purpose of the
said town, in such manner as the said council shall deem expedient in
accordance with the Constitution of this State and of the United States;
provided, however, that it shall impose no taxes on the bonds of the said

wn.

(2) To impose special or local assessments for local improvements
and to force payment thereof, subject to such limitations prescribed by the
Constitution and laws as may be in force at the time of the imposition of
such special or local assessments.

(3) To own, operate and maintain water works and to acquire in
any lawful manner in any county of the State, such water, lands, prop-
erty rights, and riparian rights as the council of the said town may deem
necessary for the purpose of providing an adequate supply to the said
town and of piping and conducting the same; to lay, erect and main-
tain all necessary mains and service lines, either within or without the
corporate limits of the said town, for the distribution of water to its
customers and consumers, both within and without the ecornorate limits
of the said town and to charge and collect water rents therefor; to erect
and maintain all necessary dams, pumping stations and other works in
connection therewith; to make reasonable rules and regulations for pro-
moting the purity of its said water supply and for protecting the same
from pollution; and for this purpose to exercise full police powers and
sanitary control over all land comprised within the limits of the water
shed tributary to any such water supply wherever such lands may be
located in this State; to impose and enforce adequate penalties for the
violation of any such rules and regulations; 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.

(4) a. The town may, in the name of and for the use of the town,
contract debts and make and issue, or cause to be made and issued, as
evidence thereof, bonds, notes or other obligations, within the limitations
prescribed by the Constitution, and in accordance with the provisions of
law concerning bond issues by towns, upon the credit of the town, or
solely upon the credit of specific property owned by the town, or solely
upon the credit of income derived from property used in connection with
any public utility owned and operated by the town.

Pending the issuance and sale of any bonds, notes or other obli-
gations by this act authorized, or in anticipation of the receipt of taxes
and revenues of the current fiscal year, it shall be lawful for the town to
borrow money temporarily and to issue notes or other evidences of in-
debtedness therefor, and from time to time to renew such temporary
loans or to use current funds to be ultimately repaid from the proceeds
of the said bonds, notes or other obligations or from the town taxes and
revenues, as the case may be.

(5) To expend the money of the town for all lawful purposes.

(6) To collect and dispose of sewage, offal, ashes, garbage, car-
casses of dead animals and other refuse, and to make reasonable charges
therefor; to acquire and operate reduction or any other plants for the
utilization or destruction of such materials, or any of them; to require
or regulate the collection and disposal thereof.

(7) * (a) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or
otherwise, real or personal property, or any estate therein, within or
without the town for any of the purposes of the town, including but not
limited to, the condemnation of real and personal property for purposes of
higher education, and including the power to give and convey such prop-
erty acquired by condemnation to State-supported institutions of higher
learning; and to hold, improve, sell, lease, mortgage, pledge or otherwise
dispose of the same, or any part thereof, including any real or personal
property, now owned by the town.

(b) In addition to the powers herein otherwise provided to exercise
the same powers as to condemnation as are provided in Title 25 and
Title 15.1 of the Code of Virginia and other general laws, and as are
conferred on the State Highway Commissioner under Article 5 of Chapter
1 of Title 83 of the Code of Virginia, and as may be provided in amend-
ments to such titles and article. In the exercise of such authority as is
granted in Article 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 388 of the Code of Virginia,
as amended, the town may use such authority in connection with the
acquisition, construction, operation or maintenance of water or sewage
disposal systems, airports, streets, roadways, alleys, schools, or for other
educational purposes, including purposes relating to institutions of higher
learning and facilities related thereto.

The powers granted in this paragraph (7) are subject to the pro-
visions of § 25-288 of the Code of Virginia when the interest sought
to be condemned is held by another corporation having the powers of
eminent domain.

(8) To license and regulate the holding and location of shows, cir-
cuses, public exhibitions, carnivals, and other similar shows or fairs, or
prohibit the holding of the same, or any of them, within the town or
within one mile of the corporate limits thereof.
CH. 234) ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 409

(9) To inspect, test, measure and weigh any commodity or com-
modities, or articles of consumption for use within the town; and to
establish, regulate, license and inspect weights, meters, measures and

es.

(10) To require every resident of the town who shall own, or have
in his custody or under his control, a vehicle of any kind which shall be
operated on the streets, alleys, or public ways of the town, and every
person not a resident of the town, who shall habitually operate on the
streets, alleys, or public ways of the town a vehicle of any kind for the
purpose of pickup or delivery in connection with the conduct of a busi-
ness, wherever located, other than a transportation business to annually
register such vehicles on a date to be designated by the council and to
obtain a license to operate the same by making application to the treas-
urer of the town, or such other person as may be designated by the
council of the town, to require the said owner or custodian to pay an
annual license fee therefor to be fixed by the council, and to prohibit the
use of streets, alleys, or public ways of the town without such license. No
such license shall be required of a nonresident of the town who shall use
a vehicle exclusively for his personal transportation to and from a place
of business within the town.

(11) To construct, establish, purchase, or to otherwise acquire,
maintain, regulate and operate public utilities and facilities of all kinds,
including bus lines, transportation systems, cemeteries, municipal and
other buildings, armories, sewage disposal plants, jails, comfort stations,
markets, and all buildings and structures necessary or appropriate for the
use and proper operation of the various departments of the town; and
to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, all lands, riparian and other
rights, and easements necessary for such improvements or any of them;
either within or without the town, and to construct, maintain, or aid
therein, roads and bridges to any property owned by the said town and
situate beyond the corporate limits thereof, and to acquire land necessary
for the aforesaid by condemnation or otherwise.

(12) To acquire, establish, enter, open, widen, extend, grade, im-
prove, construct, maintain and clean public highways, streets, sidewalks,
boulevards, parkways, and alleys, and to alter, vacate, or close the same;
to establish and maintain parks, golf courses, playgrounds, and public
grounds, to keep them lighted and in good order; to construct, main-
tain and operate bridges, viaducts, subways, tunnels, sewers and drains
and to regulate the use of all such highways, parks, public grounds and
works; to plant and maintain or remove shade trees along the streets and
upon such public grounds; to prevent the obstruction of such streets and
highways; to regulate the operation and speed of cars, and vehicles upon
said streets and highways, within the town and for a distance of one mile
from the limits thereof; and to dd‘all other things whatsoever adapted to
make said streets and highways safe, convenient and attractive.

(13) To construct in such parks, playgrounds, and public grounds,
as it may maintain, or upon any town property, stadium, swimming pools,
gymnasia, and recreation or amusement buildings, structures, or in-
closures of every character, refreshment stands, restaurants, et cetera; to
charge admissions for use of the same, and to rent out or lease the
privileges of construction or using such stadiums, swimming pools, recre-
ation or amusement buildings, structures, or inclosures of every character,
refreshment stands, or restaurants, et cetera.

(14) To establish, impose, and enforce the collection of water and
sewage rates, and rates and charges for public utilities, or other services,
products, or conveniences, operated, rented or furnished by the town; and
to assess, or cause to be assessed, after reasonable notice to the owner or
owners, water and sewage rates and charges directly against the owner
or owners of the buildings or against the proper tenant or tenants; and in
event such rates and charges shall be assessed against a tenant then the
council may by ordinance, require of such tenant a deposit of such rea-
sonable amount as it may by such ordinance prescribe before furnishing
such service to such tenant.

(15) To establish, construct, and maintain sanitary sewers, sewer
lines and systems, and to require the abutting property owners to con-
nect therewith and to establish, construct, maintain and operate sewage
disposal plants, and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, within or
without the town, all lands, rights of way, riparian and other rights, and
easements necessary for the purposes aforesaid, and to charge, assess,
and collect reasonable fees, rentals, assessments or costs of service for
connection with and using the same.

(16) To own, operate and maintain electric light and gas works,
either within or without the corporate limits of the town and to supply
electricity and gas whether the same be generated or purchased by said
town, to its customers and consumers both without and within the cor-
porate limits of the said town, at such price and upon such terms as the
council may prescribe, and to that end it may contract and purchase elec-
tricity and gas from the owners thereof upon such terms as it may deem
expedient.

(17) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and general laws
of Virginia and this charter, to grant franchises for public utilities; pro-
vided, however, the town shall at any time have the power to contract
for, own, operate, manage, sell, encumber or otherwise dispose of, either
within or without the town any and all public utilities for the town and
to sell the services thereof.

(18) To charge and to collect fees for permits to use public facilities
and for public services and privileges. The said town shall have the
power and right to charge a different rate for any service rendered or
convenience furnished to citizens without the corporate limits from the
rates charged for similar service to citizens within the corporate limits.

(19) To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances within
the town or upon property owned by the town beyond its limits 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, and to
collect said expense by suit or motion or by distress and sale; to require
all lands, lots and other premises within the town, to be kept clean and
sanitary and free from stagnant water, weeds, filth and unsightly deposits,
or to make them so at the expense of the owners or occupants thereof, and
to collect said expense by suit or motion or by distress and sale; to regu-
late, or prevent slaughter houses or other noisome or offensive business
within the said town, the keeping of hogs, or other animals, poultry or
other fowl therein, or the exercise of any dangerous or unwholesome
business, trade or employment therein; to regulate the transportation of
all articles through the streets of the town; to compel the abatement of
smoke and dust and prevent unnecessary noise; to regulate the location
of stables and the manner in which they shall be kept and constructed; to
regulate the location, construction, operation and maintenance of bill-
boards, signs, advertising, and generally to define, prohibit, abate, sup-
press and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals, safety,
convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the town; and to require
all owners or occupants of property having sidewalks in front thereof
to keep the same clean and sanitary, and free from all weeds, filth,
unsightly deposits, ice and snow.

(20) To extinguish and prevent fires, to abate fire hazards, and
to establish, regulate and control a fire department or divisions, to regu-
late the size, height, materials and construction of buildings, fences, walls,
retaining walls and other structures hereafter erected, in such manner as
the public safety and conveniences may require; to remove or require to
be removed or reconstructed any building, structure or addition thereto
which by reason of dilapidation, defect of structure or other causes may
have become dangerous to life or property, or which may be erected con-
trary to law; to establish and designate from time to time fire limits,
within which limits wooden buildings shall not be constructed, removed,
added to, enlarged or repaired and to direct that any or all future build-
ings within such limits shall be constructed of stone, natural or artificial,
concrete, brick, iron or other fireproof materials; and may enact stringent
and efficient laws for securing the safety of persons from fires in halls
and buildings, used for public assemblies, entertainments or amusements.

(21) To direct the location of all buildings for storing explosives
or combustible substances; to regulate the sale and use of gun powder,
nitroglycerin, fireworks, gasoline, kerosene, oil or other like materials; to
regulate the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of firearms, and the
making of bonfires in the streets and yards.

(22) To provide for regular and safe construction of houses in the
town for the future, and to provide a building code for the town, to pro-
vide set back lines on the streets beyond which no building may be con-
structed, to require the standard of all dwelling houses be maintained in
residential section in keeping with the majority of residences therein and
to require the standard of all business houses be maintained in business
sections in keeping with the majority of the business houses therein.

(23) To provide for the preservation of the general health of the
inhabitants of said town, make regulations to secure the same, inspect
all food stuffs and prevent the introduction and sale in said town of any
article or thing intended for human consumption, which is adulterated,
impure or otherwise dangerous to health, and to condemn, seize and
destroy or otherwise dispose of any such article or thing without liability
to the owner thereof; to prevent the introduction or spread of contagious
or infectious diseases, and prevent and suppress disease generally; to
provide and regulate hospitals within or without the town limits, and if
necessary to the suppression of disease, to enforce the removal of persons
afflicted with contagious or infectious diseases to hospitals provided for
them; to construct and maintain or to aid in the construction and main-
tenance of a hospital or hospitals for the use of the people of the town; to
provide for the organization of a department or bureau of health, to have
the powers of a board of health for said town, with the authority neces-
sary for the prompt and efficient performance of the duties, with the
power to invest any or all the officials or employees of such department
of health with such powers as the police officers of the town have, to
establish quarantine ground within or without the town, and establish
such quarantine regulations against infectious and contagious diseases as
the council may see fit, subject to the laws of the State and of the United
States; and to provide for a bureau of vital statistics and require physi-
cians, midwives or parents to make reports thereto.

(24) To provide and maintain, either within or without the town,
charitable, recreative, curative, corrective, detentive or penal institutions.

(25) To prevent fowls and animals being kept in or running at
large in the town, and to subject the same to such regulations and penal-
ties as the council may provide.

(26) To prevent the riding or driving of horses or other animals
at an improper speed; to prevent the flying of kites, throwing of stones,
or engaging in any sort of employment in the public streets which is
dangerous or annoying to passersby, and to prohibit and punish the abuse
of animals.

(27) In so far as not prohibited by general law to control, regulate,
limit and restrict the operation of motor vehicles carrying passengers for
hire upon the streets or alleys of the town; to regulate the use of auto-
mobiles and other automotive vehicles upon the streets; to regulate the
routes in and through the town to be used by motor vehicle carriers oper-
ating in and through said town and to prescribe different routes for dif-
ferent carriers; to prohibit the use of certain streets by motor trucks; and
generally to prescribe such regulations respecting motor traffic therein as
may be necessary for the general welfare.

(28) To acquire, by condemnation, purchase or otherwise, provide
for, maintain, operate and protect aircraft landing fields either within or
without the corporate limits of the town.

29) To exercise full police powers and establish and maintain a
department or division of police.

(30) To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street beg-
gars, to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assemblages ;
to suppress houses of ill-fame and gambling houses; to prevent and punish
lewd, indecent and disorderly exhibitions in said town; and to expel
therefrom persons guilty of such conduct who have not resided therein as
much as one year.

(31) To make and enforce ordinances, in so far as not prohibited by
the general laws of this State, to regulate, control, license and/or tax the
manufacture, bottling, sale, distribution, transportation, handling, adver-
tising, possession, dispensing, drinking and use of alcohol, brandy, rum,
whiskey, gin, wine, beer, lager beer, ale, porter, stout, and all liquids,
beverages and articles containing alcohol by distillation, fermentation or
otherwise.

(82) To do all things whatsoever necessary or expedient and lawful
to be done for promoting or maintaining the general welfare, comfort,
education, morals, peace, government, health, trade, commerce, or indus-
tries of the town, or its inhabitants.

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