1922 charter
Main article: Charter of the City of Charlottesville
ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 1922, CHAP. 411– An ACT to amend and re-enact all acts creating and amending the charter of the city of Charlottesville, and to provide a charter and special form of government for the said city, and to repeal all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act, so far as they relate to the city of Charlottesville. (H B 486) Approved March 24, 1922.
Whereas, on December seventh, nineteen hundred and twenty, an election was held in the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, by which the qualified voters of said city adopted the form of government provided by the Code of Virginia of nineteen hundred and nineteen, and known as “Modified Commission Form;” and Whereas, doubt has arisen as to the validity of said election; and Whereas, the voters of the city of Charlottesville in mass meeting assembled in response to a call issued by the chamber of commerce of said city and concurred in by the Rotary club and the Young Men's Business club of said city, did at the courthouse in said city on the night of February twentieth, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, request the general assembly of Virginia so to amend and re-enact the charter of said city as to incorporate therein the following amendments and changes:
(1) All legislative, financial and police authority vested in the city of Charlottesville by law shall be and is hereby given to a council of three members to be elected at large from the qualified voters of the city.
(2) Each of said councilmen shall hold office for two years, and shall receive an annual salary of three hundred dollars each (except the president, who shall be mayor, and shall receive five hundred dollars) from the city for their services.
(3) An election shall be held in the said city pursuant to law, at the time for the next regular election for councilmen in June, nineteen hundred and twenty-two. As soon as the said councilmen shall qualify, they shall meet and elect from their number a president, who shall be mayor without veto power, and who shall preside and also have a vote on all questions. Said council so composed shall take office on September first, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, from and after which time the powers and duties and salaries of the mayor and two branches of the council heretofore elected shall cease.
(4) It shall be the duty of said council of three members to immediately elect for a period of one year a business manager at a salary to be fixed by them, who may be removed from office by said council at their discretion.
(5) Said business manager shall have full executive authority in the management of all ministerial affairs, and shall have the right to employ and discharge all employees under his control. Said business manager shall give bond for the faithful performance of his duties for such sum as said council may require. The duties and responsibilities of said business manager are to be fixed by ordinance of the city council.
(6) In all other respects the said council shall have and be vested with the same authority heretofore exercised by the mayor and the two branches of the council, and in all other respects their duties and liabilities shall be regulated by the existing laws, not in conflict here- with ; now, therefore, Section 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all acts creating and amending the charter of the city of Charlottesville be, and the same are hereby, amended and re-enacted in the manner and form following: Section 2. That so much of the land as lies and is contained within the following boundaries, beginning at a point at the intersection of the northerly line of the right-of-way of the Southern railway com- pany and the western line of Jefferson Park avenue, or Fry springs road, thence along the northern line of said Southern railway's right- of-way line north seventy-one degrees twelve minutes east one thousand-and four hundred and fifty-four feet to a stake, thence north seventy-one degrees forty-nine minutes east one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven feet to a stake (leaving out the right-of-way of the Southern railway, this being the modification hereinbefore mentioned), thence crossing the right-of-way of said Southern railway south one degree thirty-nine minutes east three hundred and thirty-six feet (this change in distance being necessitated by the modification hereinbefore referred to), to a cast iron monument in the south side of Grove street in Fifeville (this being an old city monument), thence south forty-three degrees ten minutes east one hundred eighty-one and nine-tenths feet to a concrete monument in L. H. Bingler's back yard, thence south twenty-nine degrees thirty minutes east, three thousand eight hundred and ninety-three and one-tenth feet to a stake near rock out-crop at the south end of Ridge street one hundred and thirty feet east of the line of said Ridge street, thence south seventy-five degrees fifty-one minutes east, three thousand three hundred twenty-seven and two-tenths feet to a pipe in the alley south of Belmont park, sixty-three feet west of Rialto street line; thence north sixty-six degrees fifty-nine minutes east, three thousand one hundred twenty-six and nine-tenths feet to a stake in the property of J. P. Burke near the northwest corner of said property east of Monticello road; thence north sixty- three degrees forty minutes east, one thousand three hundred twenty- four and two-tenths feet to a stake in the north edge of embankment of Chesapeake and Ohio railway, sixty-six and five-tenths feet west of Chesapeake and Ohio railway division sign; thence north thirty degrees twenty-two minutes east, three thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight feet to an iron pipe in the south side of Free Bridge road; thence north twelve degrees forty minutes east, three thousand six hundred and twenty-three and seven-tenths feet to an iron pipe in the north end of Locust Grove avenue at John A. Smith's gate; thence south eighty-three degrees ten minutes west, three thousand one hundred and forty-four feet to a stake in west side of Rio road; thence north forty-seven degrees twenty-six minutes west, six hun-dred and fifty-eight feet to a stake near gate-post in E. Bradbury's yard; thence north forty-six degrees eighteen minutes west, eight hundred and fourteen feet to a stake in the east fence of private road of M. Mason about two hundred feet north of Rugby avenue; thence north fifty-three degrees twenty-five minutes west, one thousand one hundred thirty-eight and seven-tenths feet to a stake on north side of new Southern railway cut about two hundred feet from Rugby avenue; thence parallelling said Rugby avenue two hundred feet therefrom, north seventy-eight degrees eleven minutes west, four thousand four hundred thirty-one and three-tenths feet to a stake two hundred feet west of Old Barracks road in the Rosser property; thence south ten degrees forty minutes west, paralleling Rugby road and two hundred feet therefrom, one thousand one hundred nine and two-tenths feet to a stake opposite gate posts of entrance to Rosser property; thence north seventy-two degrees forty-nine minutes west, one thousand one hundred ninety-six and three-tenths feet to a stake in fence between Dabney and Moore properties; thence south fifty-six degrees fifty-five minutes west, two thousand five hundred ninety- three and seven-tenths feet to a stake near the westport of Massey's gate on north side of Ivy road; thence south twelve degrees fifty-three minutes west, five hundred eighty-eight and four-tenths feet to stake in the north side of the Lynchburg road, the following courses, forty-three degrees forty-three minutes west, one hundred and ninety- seven and six-tenths feet to a stake; south fifty-two degrees fifty-five minutes west, five hundred and eighty-eight and four-tenths feet to stake; south fifty-four degrees thirty-seven minutes west, three hun-dred and twenty-five feet to a stake; south forty-eight degrees fifty minutes west, one hundred feet to stake; south fifty degrees forty- three minutes, eighty-five feet to stake; south sixty-one degrees thirty-five minutes west, one hundred and eighty feet to stake; south seventy-three degrees fifty-five minutes west, one hundred and fifty- five feet to stake; south eighty-seven degrees sixteen minutes west, one hundred feet to stake; north eighty-two degrees twenty-one minutes west, one hundred and forty-three feet to stake; north seventy- two degrees sixteen minutes west, one hundred and sixty-eight feet to stake; south eighty-two degrees eighteen minutes west, one hundred and sixty-nine feet to stake; thence south twenty-two degrees fifty-five minutes east, crossing Lynchburg road one hundred and sixty-five feet to a stake in the west line of Maury avenue; thence along said Maury avenue the following courses, south eleven degrees fifty-three minutes east, sixty feet to a stake; south no degrees thirty- eight minutes west, two hundred and eighty feet to stake; south forty-three degrees thirty-three minutes east, four hundred two and one-tenth feet to a stake; south sixteen degrees forty-one minutes east, two hundred seventy and three-tenths feet to stake; south no degrees eight minutes east, three hundred thirteen and three-tenths feet to the place of beginning, shall be and is hereby, made the city of Charlottesville; and the inhabitants of the city of Charlottesville for all purposes for which towns and cities are incorporated in this Commonwealth, shall continue to be one body, politic in fact and in name, under the style and denomination of the city of Charlottesville, and as such shall have all the rights, immunities, powers, and privileges, and be subject to all the duties and obligations now incumbent and pertaining to said city as a municipal corporation; and by that name may sue and be sued, and be subject to all the provisions of the Code of Virginia, except so far as may be herein otherwise provided.
Section 3. The said city shall be divided into wards as now constituted, but the number of wards may be hereafter increased or diminished and the boundaries thereof changed by the city council as authorized by law.
Section 4.
- (a) The municipal authorities of the said city shall consist of a council of three members, one of whom shall be mayor, as hereinafter set forth, unless and until this form be changed in a manner prescribed by law, a clerk of the corporation court, a Commonwealth's attorney, a treasurer, a sergeant, a commissioner of the revenue, a police justice, a justice of the peace, a constable, who shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city of Charlottesville at elections held at the intervals and on the days prescribed for such elections by the laws of the State. All persons who are qualified voters of the city of Charlottesville shall be eligible to any of the said offices. The terms of office of all of said officers' shall begin and continue for such length of time as is prescribed by law; pro- vided, that any one of said officers shall be eligible to one or more offices to be filled by the council—that is to say, that any officer elected by the people may hold office to which he was elected as well as one or more offices to which he may be elected or appointed by the council. All the corporate powers of said city shall be exercised by said council, or under its authority, except as otherwise provided herein.
- (b) The form of government for said city shall be modified com- mission plan, as follows: All corporate powers, legislative, financial and police authority vested in the city of Charlottesville by law shall be and is hereby vested in a council of three members to be elected at large from the qualified voters of the city, except as hereinafter provided.
- (c) Each of said councilmen shall hold office for two years and shall receive an annual salary of three hundred dollars each (except the president of said council, who shall be mayor, and shall receive five hundred dollars) from the city for their services.
- (d) An election shall be held in the said city pursuant to law, at the time for the next regular election for councilmen in June, nine- teen hundred and twenty-two. As soon as the said councilmen shall qualify, they shall meet and elect from their number a president, who shall be mayor without veto power, and who shall preside and also have a vote on all questions. Said council shall also elect a vice-president. Said council, so composed, shall take office on September first, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, from and after which time the powers and duties and salaries of the mayor and two branches of the council heretofore elected shall cease.
- (e) It shall be the duty of said council of three members to immediately elect for a period of one year a business manager at a salary to be fixed by them, who may be removed from office by said council at their discretion.
- (f) Said business manager shall have full executive authority in the management of all ministerial affairs, and shall have the right to employ and discharge all employees under his control. Said business manager shall give a bond for the faithful performance of his duties for such sum as said council may require. The duties and responsibilities of said business manager are to be fixed by ordinance of the city council. Until said council so fixes his duties and responsibilities, the said business manager shall have the powers vested in city managers by sections two thousand nine hundred and forty-four and two thousand nine hundred and forty-five of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred and nineteen, and general laws amendatory thereof.
- (g) In all other respects the said council shall have and be vested with the same authority heretofore exercised by the mayor and the two branches of the council, and in all other respects their duties and liabilities shall be regulated by the existing laws, not in conflict herewith.
Section 5. There may be elected by the council such officers and clerks as said council deems proper and necessary, and any one or more of said offices may be held and exercised by the same person. The officers herein mentioned shall be elected or appointed by the council on the first day of September, nineteen hundred and twenty- two, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and biennially thereafter, except when elected to fill a vacancy (which may be done by the council), in which case the election shall be for the unexpired term. It may be competent for the council, in order to secure the services of a suitable person, to elect non-residents, but such officer shall reside in the city during his tenure of office.
Section 6. The councilmen, and other officers elected by the people shall each, before entering upon the duties of their offices, take the oaths prescribed for all other officers by laws of Virginia, and qualify before the corporation court of said city, or the judge thereof in vacation, and in the cases of the mayor, and councilmen a certificate of such oaths having been taken, shall be filed by them, respectively, with the clerk of the council, who shall enter the same upon the journal thereof; but if any or either of said officers shall fail to qualify, as aforesaid, for ten days after the commencement of the term for which he, or they, were elected, or shall neglect for a like space of time to give such bond as may be required of him, his office or their offices shall be deemed vacant.
Section 7. Whenever, from any cause, a vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor, it shall be filled by the council and a vacancy in the office of councilmen shall be filled by that body at its next regular meeting from the qualified electors of said city, and the office thus elected shall hold his office for the term for which his predecessor was elected, unless sooner vacated by death, resignation, removal, or from other causes. An entry of said election shall be made in the record book. If the mayor of said city or a councilman shall remove from the city limits, such removal shall operate to vacate his office.
Section 8. At its first meeting in September, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, and biennially thereafter, the council shall elect one of its members to act as president, who shall preside at its meetings and continue in office two years. Or if a vacancy occur in the office before the end of his term, such vacancy shall be filled as provided in section seven. At the same time the council shall elect one of its members to be a vice-president, who shall preside at such meetings in the absence of the president, and who, when the president shall be absent or unable to perform the duties of his office, by reason of sickness, or other cause, shall perform any and all duties required of, or entrusted to, the president. The president, or the vice-president, when authorized, as above stated, to act, shall have power at any time to call a meeting.
Section 9. Two councilmen shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of that body.
Section 10. The president, or vice-president, as the case may be, shall be entitled to a vote on all questions as any other member, but in no case shall he be entitled to a second vote on any question, though it be necessary to break a tie–that is to say, his office shall not entitle him to a vote.
Section 11. The council shall have authority to adopt such rules and to appoint such officers and clerks as it may deem proper for the regulation of its proceedings, and for the convenient transaction of business, to compel the attendance of absent members, to punish its members for disorderly behavior, and by vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to it, expel a member for malfeasance or misfeasance in office. The council shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and its meetings shall be open, except when, by a recorded vote of two-thirds of those members present, it shall declare that the public welfare requires secrecy. The council shall also require to be kept by its clerk a separate book, termed “the general ordinance book,” in which shall be recorded all ordinances and resolutions of a general and permanent character, properly indexed and opened to the public inspection. Other documents or papers in the possession of the clerk of the council which may affect the interest of the city shall not, without special order of the body, its president or vice-president, be exhibited, nor copies thereof furnished to other persons than the committees or city officials entitled thereto.
Section 12. At each regular meeting of the council the proceedings of the last regular meeting and all intervening called meetings, shall be read, and thereupon be corrected, if erroneous, and signed by the person presiding for the time being. Upon the call of any member the ayes and noes shall be recorded in the journal.
Section 13. The council of the city, except as hereinbefore provided, shall have power within said city to control and manage the fiscal and municipal affairs of the city and all property, real and personal, belonging to said city; they shall have power to provide a revenue for the city, and appropriate the same to its expenses, also to provide the annual assessments of taxable persons and property in the city, and it may make such ordinances, orders, and by-laws relating to the foregoing powers of this section as it shall deem proper and necessary. They shall likewise have power to make such ordinances, by-laws, orders and regulations as it may deem desirable to carry out the following powers which are hereby vested in them:
First. To close, extend, widen, narrow, lay out, grade, improve and otherwise alter streets and public alleys in the said city, and have them properly lighted and kept in good order, and it may make or construct sewers or ducts through the streets or public grounds of the city, and through any place, or places whatsoever, when it may be deemed expedient by all the said councils. The land included in any street that is closed shall revert to the abutting owners on either side of the same, each receiving one-half thereof. That is, the new line of each abutter shall be the middle of the former street. The said council may have over any street or alley in the street, which has been, or may be ceded to the city, like authority as over other streets or alleys, and may prevent or remove any structure, obstruction or encroachment over, or under, or in a street or alley, or any sidewalk thereof.
Second. To prevent the cumbering of the streets, avenues, walks, public squares, lanes, alleys, or bridges in any manner whatsoever; to compel the occupant or owner of buildings or grounds to remove snow, dirt or rubbish from the sidewalks in front thereof.
Third. To extinguish and prevent fires, prevent property from being stolen, and to compel citizens to render assistance to the fire department in case of need, and to establish, regulate and control a fire department for said city; to regulate the size of materials, and construction of buildings hereafter erected, in such manner as the public safety and convenience may require; to remove, or require to be removed, any building, structure, or addition thereto which, by reason of delapidation, defect of structure, or other causes, may have, or shall, become dangerous to life or property, or which may be erected contrary to law; to establish and designate from time to time fire limits, within which limits wooden buildings shall not be constructed, removed, added to or enlarged, and to direct that all future buildings within such limits shall be constructed of stone, natural or artificial, concrete, brick or iron. -
Fourth. To regulate and prescribe the breadth of tires upon the wheels of wagons, carts, and vehicles of every kind and description used upon the streets of said city.
Fifth. To provide for the preservation of the general health of the inhabitants of said city, make regulations to secure the same, prevent the introduction or spreading of contagious or infectious diseases, and prevent and suppress diseases generally; to provide and regulate hospitals within or without the city limits, and to enforce the removal of persons afflicted with contagious or infectious diseases to hospitals provided for them; to provide for the appointment and organization of a board of health or other board to have the powers of a board of health for said city, with the authority necessary for the prompt and efficient performance of its duties, with power to invest any or all the officials or employees of such department of health with such powers as the police officers of the city have; to regulate the burial, cremation, or disposition of the dead; to compel the return of births and deaths to be made to its health department, and the return of all burial permits to such department.
Sixth. To acquire by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, either within or without the city, lands to be appropriated, improved and kept in order as places for the interment of the dead, and may charge for the use of the grounds in said places of interment, and may regulate the same; to prevent the burial of the dead in the city, except in public burying grounds; to regulate burials in said grounds; to require the keeping and return of bills of mortality by the keepers (or owners) of all cemeteries, and shall have power to acquire by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, according to law, such lands, and in such quantity as it may deem proper or necessary for the purpose of burying the dead.
Seventh. To establish a quarantine ground within or without the city limits, and such quarantine regulations against infectious and contagious diseases as the said councils may see fit, subject to the laws of the State, and of the United States.
Eighth. To require and compel the abatement and removal, of all nuisances within the said city, or upon any property owned by said city, without its limits, at the expense of the person or persons causing the same, or the occupant or owner of the ground whereon the same may be; to prevent and regulate slaughter houses, and soap and candle factories within said city, or the exercise of any dangerous, offensive or unhealthy business, trade or employment therein; to regulate the transportation of all articles through the streets of the city; to compel the abatement of smoke and dust; to regulate the location of stables, and the manner in which they shall be constructed and kept.
Ninth. If any ground in the said city shall be subject to be covered by stagnant water, or if the owner or occupant thereof shall permit any offensive or unwholesome substance to remain or accumulate thereon, the said councils may cause such ground to be filled up, raised, or drained, or may cause such substance to be covered or removed therefrom, and may collect the expense of so doing from the said owner or occupant by distress or sale, in the same manner in which taxes levied upon real estate for the benefit of said city are authorized to be collected; provided, that reasonable notice shall be first given to the said owner or occupant or his agent. In case of non-resident owners, who have no agent in said city, such notice may be given by publication for not less than ten days, in any newspaper published in said city, such publication to be at the expense of said owner, and cost thereof to be collected as a part of the expense hereinbefore provided for.
Tenth. To direct the location of all buildings for storing gun-powder or other explosive or combustible substance; to regulate or prohibit the sale and use of dynamite, gunpowder, fire-crackers, kerosene oil, gasoline, nitroglycerine, camphene, burning fluid, and all explosive or combustible materials, the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of firearms, the use of candles and lights in barns, stables and other buildings, the making of bonfires and the carrying of concealed weapons.
Eleventh. To prevent the running at large in said city of all animals and fowls, and to regulate and prohibit the keeping or raising of the same within said city, and to subject the same to such confiscation, levies, regulations and taxes as it may deem proper.
Twelfth. To prevent the riding or driving of animals at improper speed, to regulate the speed and manner of use upon the streets of said city of all animals or vehicles; to prevent the flying of kites, throwing of stones, or the engaging in any employment or sport in the streets or public alleys, dangerous or annoying to the public, and to prohibit and punish the abuse of animals.
Thirteenth. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, medicants and street beggars.
Fourteenth. To prevent vice and immorality; to preserve public peace and good order, to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assemblage; to suppress houses of ill-fame, and gaming houses, to prevent lewd, indecent or disorderly conduct or exhibitions in the city, and to expel from said city persons guilty of such conduct.
Fifteenth. To prevent, prohibit or regulate the coming into the city from points either within, or beyond the limits of the State, of paupers or persons having no ostensible means of support, or persons who may be dangerous to the peace or safety of the city; and for this purpose may require any railroad company, or the owners of any conveyances bringing any such person to, or leaving him in said city, to enter into bond with satisfactory security, that such person shall not become chargeable to the city within one year from the date of his arrival, or may compel such company, or owner, to take any such person back to the city whence he was brought, and may compel any such person to leave the city, if he has not been in the city more than ninety days before the order is given.
Sixteenth. And the said council shall also have power to make such other and additional ordinances as it may deem necessary for the general welfare of said city; and nothing herein contained shall be construed to deprive said city of any of the powers conferred upon it, either by general or special laws of the State of Virginia, except in so far as the same may be inconsistent with the provisions of this charter.
Seventeenth. Said council shall have power to require and take from the city's business manager, chief of police, treasurer, auditor, commissioner of the revenue, and all other bonded officers, bonds with security and in such penalty as they may see fit, which said bonds shall be made payable to the city by its corporate name, and conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties; said bonds shall be entered on the record of the council and shall be filed with the clerk of the corporation court of the city.
Eighteenth. Said council shall have power to erect, or authorize or prohibit the erection of gas works, waterworks, or electric light works in or near the city, and to regulate the same.
Nineteenth. To prohibit the pollution of water which may be provided for the use of the city.
Twentieth. To pass all by-laws, rules and ordinances, not repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the State, which they may deem necessary for the good order and government of the city, the management of its property, the conduct of its affairs, the peace, comfort, convenience, order, morals, health, and protection of its citizens or their property, including authority to keep a city police force; and to 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 officers thereof, or which may be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation; and to enable the authorities of said city more effectually to enforce the provisions of this section, and any other powers conferred upon them by this charter, their jurisdiction, civil and criminal, is hereby declared to extend one mile beyond the corporate limits of said city.
Twenty-first. To create a floating debt not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars when, by a vote of the total membership of the council, the council has passed a resolution declaring it expedient to do so, and when the creating of the floating debt thereby provided for is for the purpose of installing, or extending, one or more public utilities, which shall constitute an asset, or assets, at least equal in value to the amount expended thereon, which utility, or utilities, shall materially add to the service rendered by the city to its tax- payers and other citizens; and it shall be the duty of the council to provide in the next bond issue for the bonding of the floating debt thus created, and failure to do this shall suspend this clause.
Section 14. Local assessments upon abutting landowners for making and improving the sidewalks upon the streets and improving and paving the alleys, and for either the construction or for the use of sewers, may be imposed not in excess of the peculiar benefits resulting therefrom to such abutting landowners. And the same shall be regulated as prescribed by the general law.
Section 15. To carry into effect the powers herein enumerated, and all other powers conferred upon said city and its council by the laws of Virginia, said council shall have power to make and pass all proper and needful orders, by-laws, and ordinances not contrary to the Constitution and laws of said State, and to prescribe reasonable fines and penalties, including imprisonment in the city jail for a period not exceeding six months, and for the enforcement of the collection of fines, to impose imprisonment for a period not exceeding ninety days, which fines, penalties or imprisonment shall be imposed, recovered and enforced by and under the police justice, or any alderman or councilman of said city. The city may maintain a suit to restrain, by injunction, the violation of any ordinance, notwithstanding such ordinance may provide punishment for its violation. And the authorities of said city may, in accordance with the contract between the councils of said city and the county of Albemarle, continue to use the jail of said county for any purpose for which the use of a jail may be needed by them, under the acts of the council or of the State of Virginia; provided, however, that in all cases where a fine or imprisonment is imposed by the police justice, or councilman, or by the council, the party or parties so fined or imprisoned shall have the right of appeal to the corporation court of said city. All fines imposed for the violation of the city charter, by-laws, or ordinances, shall be paid into the city treasury.
Section 16. Each councilman, and the police justice of said city, for the time being, are declared to be, and are hereby, constituted conservators of the peace within said city, and within one mile from the corporate limits thereof, and shall have all the powers and authority, in civil, as well as in criminal cases, as justices of the peace. And the chief of police and the policemen of the city shall also be conservators of the peace within the limits aforesaid, and all proper arrests may be made and warrants of arrest executed by such chief of police and policemen.
Section 17. The council shall cause to be made up annually, and entered upon its journal, an accurate estimate of all sums of money which are or may become lawfully chargeable on said city, and which ought to be paid in one year; the said council shall order a city levy of so much money as in its discretion shall be sufficient to meet all just demands against the corporation.
Section 18. The levy so made shall be laid on all persons who are residents of said city over twenty-one years of age, upon dogs, and upon all personal and real estate within said city, except such persons, personal and real estate as are exempt from taxation under the laws of this State, and also upon all other such subjects within said city as may at the time be assessed with State taxes; provided, however, that the tax on real estate and personal property shall not exceed in any one year one dollar and eighty-five cents on every hundred dollars value thereof; and provided, also, that lands while used for agricultural or grazing purposes included in this charter, at the time they are taxed, may be assessed for incorporation purposes at a lower rate; provided, however, that nothing in this act contained shall authorize the imposition of a tax upon intangible personal property at a rate in excess of that authorized by gen- eral law. - But nothing contained in this section, as hereby amended, shall limit or restrict the power of the city council to levy such additional taxation as they may deem necessary for the use and benefit of the city; provided, such additional taxation shall be authorized and sanctioned by a vote cf the qualified voters of said city, in the mode and manner prescribed in section twenty-three of this charter, or be authorized by the council by a vote equal to at least two-thirds of the total membership. Provided, that nothing in this section shall be construed to repeal or amend any general law of the State now in effect.
Section 19. License taxes may be imposed by ordinance on businesses, trades, professions, and callings and upon the persons, firms, associations and corporations, engaged therein and the agent thereof. except in cases where taxation by the localities shall be prohibited by the general law of the State, and nothing herein shall be construed to repeal, or amend any general law with respect to taxation. And this right to require a license and impose a tax thereon shall apply to all persons who use the streets of the city for delivery wagons; provided, that the license tax paid by any merchant to the city of Charlottesville shall, if the council consent, be in lieu of any tax on a delivery wagon used by him in said city. And said council may also grant or refuse license to owners or keepers of wagons, drays, carts, hacks, and other wheeled vehicles kept or employed in said town for hire or as carriers for the public, may prescribe a schedule of charges for their services, and may require the owners of such wagons, drays, carts, and so forth, using them in the city, to take out a license therefor, and require taxes to be paid thereon, and subject same to such other regulations as they may deem proper.
Section 20. The revenue from these and other sources shall be collected, paid over, and accounted for at such times and to such persons as the council shall order, and pursuant to such ordinance as now exists or may hereafter be passed by the council. The city treasurer shall be the custodian of all the funds of the city.
Section 21. The council shall require the treasurer of the said corporation to make out a quarterly report of the receipts and expenditures, together with a balance sheet of said city for the preceding quarter, which report shall state on what account the expenditures were made, and from what source or sources the receipts were derived, which report when approved by the council, or in such manner as the council may direct, shall be published in one or more newspapers of the city on or before the twentieth day of December, March, June and September of each year.
Section 22. The council of said city of Charlottesville is hereby authorized to make and issue the registered or coupon bonds of said corporation, payable not exceeding forty years after their date, bearing interest at not more than five per centum per annum, payable semi- annually; said bonds to be used exclusively in paying off and dis- charging the principal and interest of the present bonded debt of the corporation of Charlottesville. The said councils shall not be authorized to dispose of such bonds at less than par value, except by a recorded affirmative vote of all the members elected to the council. Said registered and coupon bonds shall be regularly numbered, signed by the mayor, clerk and treasurer of the city, and recorded in a book kept for that purpose.
Section 23. To provide for the payment of the bonded debt of the city there shall be set apart annually by the council from the revenues of the city such sum as will be sufficient to meet each issue of bonds, either heretofore or hereafter issued, as the same shall be- come due, except that for any issue of bonds a definite amount of which is payable annually and known as serial bonds no sum shall be so provided; but for such serial bonds the council shall make in their annual budget definite provision for their payment. The fund thus set apart shall be paid in two equal installments on the first day of January and the first day of July of each year, to the sinking fund commissioners hereafter designated, and shall, together with the accretions thereto arising from interest on investments, etc., be known as the sinking fund, and be held sacred for the payment of the debt of the city as it shall become due; and if no part of said debt be due or payable, said fund shall be invested in the bonds or certificates of debt of said city, or of this State, or the United States, or of some State of this Union, or any other bonds the sinking fund commissioners may deem a safe investment; said fund shall, in the hands of the treasurer, as to all questions of investments, purchase or sale within the limitations of this section, be subject to the orders and management of the mayor, chairman of the finance committee of the council, auditor, and treasurer, who together shall compose the sinking fund commission.
Section 24. The council of said city may negotiate any loan or loans for the purpose of improving the streets, lighting the same, buying necessary real estate, erecting public buildings, supplying the city with water, sewerage, and for other purposes; and shall have authority to issue registered and coupon bonds for the said loan or loans, payable not more than forty years after the date of said bonds, and said bonds shall bear interest at a rate not greater than five per centum, payable semi-annually; provided, that the council shall not negotiate such loan or loans, and issue bonds therefor, for sums which when added to the debt of the city then existing, shall cause the total indebtedness of the city to be greater than eighteen per centum of the assessed valuation of the real estate of the city subject to taxation, as shown by the last preceding assessment for taxes; provided, however, that in determining the limitation of the power of the city to incur indebtedness, there shall not be included the classes of indebtedness mentioned in subsection a and b of section one hundred and twenty-seven of the Constitution of the State; and provided, further, that such bonds are authorized by an ordinance enacted in accordance with section one hundred and twenty-three of the Constitution of Virginia, and approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the qualified voters of the city who vote upon the question of their issuance, to be ascertained at a general election or at a special election held for that purpose; said special election, if one be held, to be ordered by the council, and to be conducted in accordance with the law of the State of Virginia, regarding election by the people. But no election touching the question shall be held until notice thereof has been given by publication for four successive weeks in one or more newspapers published in said city, and recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose.
Section 25. The rights of the city in its gas, water and electric works and sewer plant, now owned, or hereafter acquired, shall not be sold even after such action of the council as is prescribed by section three thousand and sixteen of the Code of Virginia of nine- teen hundred and nineteen, until and except such sale shall have been approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the city, voting on the question at a special election ordered by the council and subject in other respects to the provisions of section twenty-four of this charter applicable to a special election.
Section 26. The city sergeant shall attend the terms of the corporation court of said city and shall act as the officer thereof; the said sergeant may, with the approval of the said court, appoint one or more deputies, who may be removed from office by the sergeant or the said court, and may discharge any of the duties of the office of sergeant, but the sergeant and his sureties shall be liable therefor.
Section 27. The officers of said city elected or appointed by the council shall, during the time they are in office, have all the power and authority of like officers in the State under its general laws, unless the same be abridged or restricted by the councils.
Section 28. The mayor or the council may prohibit any theatrical or other performance, show or exhibition within said city or a mile of its corporate limits, which may be deemed injurious to morals or good order.
Section 29. The mayor, except as hereinbefore provided in section four, subsection f, shall be the chief executive officer of the city, and shall take care that the by-laws and ordinances thereof are fully executed. He shall see that the duties of the various city officers, members of the police and fire departments, whether elected or appointed, in and for the city, are faithfully performed. He shall have power to investigate their acts, have access to all books and documents in their offices, and may examine them and their subordinates on oath. The evidence given by persons so examined shall not be used against them in any criminal proceedings. He shall also have power to suspend such officers and the members of the police and fire departments, and to remove such officers for misconduct in office or neglect of duty, to be specified in the order of suspension or removal; but no such removal shall be made without reasonable notice to the officer complained of and an opportunity afforded him to be heard in person or by counsel, and to present testimony in his defense. From such order of suspension or removal the city officer so suspended or removed, or the member of the police and fire departments so suspended, shall have an appeal of right to the corporation Court. Said mayor, except as herein provided, shall have all other powers and duties which may be conferred upon him by general laws. The corporation court of said city may remove the mayor of said city from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, or gross neglect of official duty, and such removal shall be deemed a vacation of the office. All proceedings against the mayor for the purpose of removing him from office shall be by order of or motion before said court, upon reasonable notice to the party affected thereby, and with the right to said party of an appeal to the supreme court of appeals. In the event of the death, resignation or removal of the mayor, or his inability to discharge his duty from some other cause, his place shall be filled and his duties shall be discharged by the vice-president of the council until such inability ceases or another mayor is elected and qualified. A vacancy in the office of mayor shall be filled as provided for in section seven of this charter.
Section 30. The police justice shall have and possess all the jurisdiction and exercise all the powers and authority in all criminal cases of a justice of the peace for said city, and his jurisdiction shall extend to within one mile of the corporate limits of the city; but he shall receive no fees for services as such police justice, but all such fees shall be turned into the city treasury. He shall also have jurisdiction of and try violations of the city ordinances, and inflict such punishment as may be prescribed for a violation of the same. He shall have authority to issue his warrant for the arrest of any person or persons violating any of the ordinances, acts or resolutions of said city; it shall be his duty especially to see that peace and good order are preserved, and persons and property are protected in the city; he shall have power to issue executions for all fines and costs imposed by him or he may require the immediate payment thereof, and in default of such payment he may commit the party in default to the city jail until the fine and costs be paid, for a period, however, not exceeding ninety days. He shall hold his court daily, except Sundays, at the place prescribed by the council, and if from any cause he shall be unable to act, he shall appoint any other justice of the peace, or any councilman of said city, to discharge the duties of the police justice prescribed herein during such inability, and who shall be paid for such services by the police justice at the same rate per diem as such police justice receives. The police justice shall keep a regular account of all fines, forfeitures, fees and costs imposed, arising or collected in the administration of his office, which he shall report monthly to the city treasurer, except that all fines collected for offenses committed against the State shall go to the literary fund, as provided by law. The police justice of said city shall be removed, as hereinbefore provided, by the mayor upon proof of malfeasance or misfeasance in office. The police justice shall receive a compensation for his services, to be fixed by the councils, which shall not be increased or decreased during the term for which he is elected, but said compensation shall not be more than twelve hundred dollars per annum, but nothing herein contained shall be deemed to repeal or alter the general law with respect to civil and police justices in cities.
Section 31. The salaries of all officers who receive stated compensation for their services from the city shall be fixed by the council.
Section 32. The council shall fix by ordinance the time for holding their stated meetings and no business shall be transacted at a special meeting, unless by unanimous consent, except that for which it shall have been called, and every call for a special meeting shall specify the object thereof.
Section 33. The regulation and restrictions for granting any franchise in the city shall be such as are provided by the general law as found in section ten hundred and thirty-three-e of the Code of Virginia of nineteen hundred and four.
Section 34. All moneys belonging to said city shall be paid over to the treasurer, and no money shall be by him paid out except as the same shall have been appropriated and ordered to be paid by the councils, and the said treasurer shall also pay the same upon warrants approved in such manner as may be prescribed by ordinance of the council.
Section 35. If the said treasurer shall fail to account for and pay over all of the moneys that shall come into his hands when thereto required by the council, it shall be lawful for the council, in the corporate name of the city, by motion before any court of record having jurisdiction in the city of Charlottesville, to recover from the treasurer and his sureties, or their personal representatives, any sum that may be due from said treasurer to said city on ten days’ notice.
Section 36 (refer to Chapter 109)
Section 37. All fines imposed for any violation of any city ordinance or State law shall be collected by the chief of police; and if said chief of police shall fail to collect, account for, and pay over all the fines in his hands for collection, it shall be lawful for the council to recover the same, so far as the same are accruing to the city, by motion, in the corporate name of the city, before the corporation court of said city, against the said chief of police, his sureties on his said bond, or any or either of them, his or their executors or administrators, on giving ten days' notice of the same.
Section 38. The council shall have power to make such ordinances, by-laws, orders and regulations as they may deem necessary to prevent dogs, hogs and other animals from running at large in the limits of the city, and may subject the owners thereof to such fines, regulations and taxes as the councils may deem proper, and may sell said animals at public auction to enforce the payment of said fines and taxes; and may order such dogs, as to which are in default, to be killed by a policeman or constable.
Section 39. The city shall not take or damage any private property for streets, or other public purposes, without making to the owner, or owners, thereof just compensation for the same. But in all cases where the city council cannot by agreement obtain title to the ground necessary for such purposes, it shall be lawful for it to apply to the circuit court of the county in which the land shall be situated, or to the proper court of the city having jurisdiction of such matters, if the subject lie within the city, to condemn the same.
Section 40. In every case where a street in said city has been or shall be encroached upon by any fence, building or otherwise, the city council may require the owner or owners, if known, and if unknown the occupant or occupants of the premises so encroaching, to remove the same. If such removal shall not be made within the time ordered by the city council, it may impose a penalty of five dollars for each and every day that it is allowed to continue thereafter, and may cause the encroachment to be removed, and collected from the owner all reasonable charges therefor, with cost, for which there shall be lien on the premises so encroaching, which lien may be enforced in a court of equity having jurisdiction of the subject. No encroachment upon any street, however long continued, shall constitute an adverse possession thereto, or confer any right upon the person claiming thereunder as against said city.
Section 41. All rights, privileges and properties of the city of Charlottesville heretofore acquired and possessed, owned and enjoyed by an act now in force, not in conflict with this act, shall continue undiminished and remain vested in said city under this act; and all laws, ordinances and resolutions of the corporation of Charlottesville now in force, and not inconsistent with this act, shall be and continue in full force and effect in the city of Charlottesville, until regularly repealed.
Section 42. The corporation court of the city of Charlottesville shall remain as it now exists and be held by the city judge at such times as are, or may be, designated by law, and the jurisdiction of said court shall be such as is now prescribed ; provided, of course, that the power to abolish said court in accordance with the Constitution of the State is in no way hereby affected. And the city of Charlottesville shall remain a part and parcel of the same legislative and senatorial districts to which it now belongs.
Section 43. That the corporate authorities of said city be, and they are hereby, authorized and empowered to erect suitable dams and reservoirs, and to lay suitable pipes to supply said city with an adequate supply of water, and to establish and construct a sewerage system for said city; and for such purpose to acquire, either by purchase or by condemnation, according to the provisions of the general law for the condemnation of lands by incorporated cities, such lands and so much thereof as may be necessary for the aforesaid purposes.
Section 44. All elections under this charter shall conform to the general law of the State in regard to elections by the people.
Section 45. The property now belonging to the county of Albemarle within the limits of the city of Charlottesville shall be within and subject to the joint jurisdiction of the county and city authorities and officers, and shall not be subject to taxation by the authorities of either county or city; and if the county and city aforesaid cannot agree upon the term of joint occupancy and use of such property in regard to which settlements may not have already been effected, the right of said city to such joint occupancy and use being hereby recognized, then the board of arbitration herein provided for shall determine the terms of such joint occupancy and use, and said board of arbitration shall determine what rights, if any, the city aforesaid has in all other county property; but this is subject to the recognition of the right of the city, as well as the county (through the district school board or otherwise) in the school property in Charlottesville school district; and nothing herein contained shall affect the rights of the inhabitants of said city to participate in the benefits of the Miller Manual Labor School in the Samuel Miller district in said County.
Section 46. A board of arbitrators composed of three members, one to be selected by the board of supervisors of Albemarle county, one by the council of Charlottesville, and they to choose a third, is hereby established, whose duty it shall be to adjust and decide the matters hereinbefore submitted to them, and all such other questions as may arise between said city and county, growing out of the extension of the corporation limits, and the establishment of a city government. The awards of said arbitrators shall be entered upon the records as the judgments of the city court or the county circuit court, as the arbitrators may designate.
Section 47. And it is further provided that the same person shall be eligible to and, if elected, may hold a county office and a city office, if the said offices be of the same nature, at the same time; provided, such officer lives within the city limits; and any person otherwise qualified, who is a resident of the city of Charlottesville, shall be eligible to election or appointment to any county office of Albemarle county.
Section 48. It appearing that an emergency exists by reason of the fact that the election for councilmen must be held in the city of Charlottesville in June, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, and also by reason of the fact that license taxes have to be adjusted in the city of Charlottesville on the first day of May in each year, this act is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the provisions of section fifty-three of the Constitution of Virginia, and shall be in force from its passage and retroactive and effective as of the six-teenth day of March, nineteen hundred and twenty, as herein provided.
Section 49. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed; but such repeal shall not affect any offense or act committed or done, or any penalty or forfeiture incurred, or any right established, accrued or accruing prior to the approval of this act by the governor, and shall not affect any right, act or transaction legalized and validated by section forty-eight of an act of the general assembly of Virginia, approved on the twenty-eighth day of February, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, amending and re-enacting the charter of the city of Charlottesville.
(scanned document - UVA Law Library)