CHAPTER 68

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 8.4 and 4.8, as amended, 4.5, 6.1,
amended, 8-B.1 and 8-B.2 of Chapter 482 of the Acts of Assembly of
1964, approved March 31, 1964, as amended, which provided a charter
for the town of Vienna, in Fairfax County, the amended sections relat-
ing respectively to conduct of municipal elections; meetings of coun-
cil; mayor pro tempore and successor to certain mayors; fiscal con-
trol; architectural control districts; and Board of Architectural

Review.
[H 78]

Approved February 27, 1968

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 3.4 and 4.8, as amended, 4.5, 6.1 as amended, 8-B.1 and
8-B.2 of Chapter 432 of the Acts of Assembly of 1964, approved March
81, 1964, as amended, be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 3.4. Conduct of Municipal Elections.—Elections in the town of
Vienna shall be conducted pursuant to, and in accord with, §§ 24-23, 24-56,
24-170, 24-171, 24-172, 24-173, 24-174, and 24-175, inclusive, of the Code
of Virginia, except insofar as same are amended by subsection (a) of
this section of the charter.

(a) The mayor shall issue to those elected certificates of election
which shall be countersigned by the Town Clerk. Tie votes shall be decided
by lot, and contests shall be tried and finally determined by a majority
vote of all members of council in office and serving at the time the con-
tested election is held, provided that any member or members of the
council who are parties to any such contest shall not participate in the
bread. of or vote in the determination of the contest to which they are
parties.

§ 4.3. Quorum; Reconsideration of Action.—* Four members of the
council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No vote
taken at any meeting shall be reconsidered or rescinded at any subsequent
special meeting unless at such special meeting there be as many members
of the council present as were present when such vote was taken.
| Mayor Pro Tempore.—lIn case of the absence or inability of
the mayor to act, the mayor pro tempore of the council, to be chosen by
a majority of the council present at its organizational meeting following
each election, shall possess the same powers, and discharge the same
duties during such absence or inability.

In the event of the death or resignation of the mayor, the council
Shall, within forty-five days thereafter, choose, by majority vote, a mayor
to serve for the unexpired term; provided, that when such death or resig-
nation occurs more than eighteen months prior to expiration of the mayor’s
term of office, the replacement so chosen by the council shall serve only
until a successor shall have been elected to fill the remainder of the
mayor’s unexpired term in the town election held on the second Tuesday
in June, next following the occurrence of such vacancy, and shall have
qualified as provided by law. The term of office for the mayor so elected
to fill the remainder of the unexpired term shall begin on the first of
September next following his election.

§ 6.1. Fiscal Control.—The council shall have the power to control
and manage the fiscal and municipal affairs of the town and all property,
real and personal, belonging to said town, and to make such ordinances,
orders and resolutions relating to the same as it may deem necessary. The
council may direct and authorize the Town Manager to examine the records
and books of the office of Treasurer. The council shall have the further
power to purchase, hold, sell and convey all real and personal property,
within or without * the corporate limits, necessary for its use and purposes.

(a) The council shall have power and authority to acquire, or other-
wise obtain control of or establish, maintain, operate, extend and enlarge
waterworks, sewage disposal plants, gasworks, electric plants, and other
public utilities within or without the limits of the town; to acquire within
or without the limits of the town by purchase, condemnation, but insofar
as such power of condemnation is exercised as to lands of a public service
corporation, § 25-233 shall be applicable, or otherwise, whatever land may
be necessary for acquiring, locating, establishing, maintaining, operating,
extending and enlarging said waterworks, sewage disposal plants, electric
plants and other utilities, and the rights of way, rails, pipes, poles, conduits
and wires connected therewith or any of the fixtures or appurtenances
thereof; and promulgate and enforce reasonable rates, rules and regula-
tions for use of same, any of all of which rates, rules and regulations the
council may alter at any time without notice.

(b) In the event the fees, rents, or charges, charged for the use and
services of the public water system or sewage disposal system, by, or in
connection with, any real estate, shall not be paid when due, interest shall
at the time begin to accrue thereon at the rate of one per cent per month.
Such fees, rents, charges and the interest due thereon shall constitute a
lien, which shall rank on a parity with liens for unpaid town or county
taxes, against the property, which lien may be indexed and filed among the
Judgment Records of the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, the cost of
such filing to be included in the total amount of such lien. Such fees, rents,
charges and the interest due thereon also may be recovered by the town
of Vienna by action at law, or suit in equity.

(c) The council shall have the power and authority to require the
owners or occupants of the real estate within the corporate limits of the
town which may front or abut on the line of any sewer or water pipe line
or conduit to make connections therewith, and to use such sewer pipes and
conduits and water furnished by the town under such ordinances and
regulations as the council may deem necessary to secure the proper service
thereof and to improve and secure good sanitary conditions; and shall
have the power to enforce the observance of all such ordinances and
regulations by the imposition and collection of fines and penalties, to be
collected as other fines and penalties under the provisions of this act.

§ 8-B.1. Architectural Control Districts—In order to protect and
promote the general welfare, and to prevent deterioration of the appear-
ance of the town which would tend to create hazards to public health,
safety and morals and destroy opportunity for the development of business
and industry, the Town Council may designate, * within any land areas,
except those zoned for single family, detached, residential use, architec-
tural control districts in which no structure shall be erected, reconstructed,
altered or restored until approved by a board of architectural review.

§ 8-B.2. Board of Architectural Review.—The council may create
a Board of Architectural Review. The Board shall consist of five * mem-
bers appointed by majority vote of the council for terms not to exceed
three years. At least one member of the Board shall be an architect reg-
istered in Virginia and at least one shall be a member of the Virginia
State Bar. All members of the Board shall be residents of the town of
Vienna except one architect member who may, or may not be a resident
of the town of Vienna. In the event that the one architect member shall
not be a resident of the town of Vienna, his appointment shall be for a
period of one year. The council shall prepare and publish appropriate
standards, rules, regulations and procedures for the operation of the
Board and to carry out the purposes and objectives herein set forth;
provided that the council shall not adopt as part of any such standards a
specific architectural style; it shall provide for appeals to the Town
Council from any final decision of the Board, which appeal shall stay
the Board’s decision pending the outcome of the appeal before the council.
The council, on appeal, shall apply the same standards as those established
for the Board and may affirm, reverse, or modify the decision of the
Board, in whole or in part. Parties aggrieved by the decision of the Town
Council shall have the right to appeal to the Circuit Court of Fairfax
County for review by filing a petition, at law, setting forth the alleged
illegality of the Town Council’s action, provided such petition is filed
within thirty days after the final decision is rendered by the Town Coun-
cil. The filing of the said petition shall stay the council’s decision pending
the outcome of the appeal to the court. The court may reverse or modify
the decision of the council, in whole or in part, if it finds upon review
that the decision of the council is contrary to law or that its decision is
arbitrary and constitutes an abuse of discretion, or it may affirm the
decision of the council.
An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.