NEWS: Williamsburg Aims to Protect Local Decision Making While Lobbying State
City approves 2025 Legislative Agenda, outlines stance on state and national issues
In November, the Williamsburg City Council approved the City’s 2025 Legislative Agenda, noting the document “outlines the City’s position on issues facing the nation and state that may impact our locality.”
“Land use decisions are best implemented at the local level where elected officials know and experience directly the nuances, impacts and repercussions, both intended and unintended, of such decisions upon the locality and its residents,”reads the document. The effort to preserve local zoning control comes on the heels of state wide regulation efforts such as HB2-2100, which failed to move out of committee, but proposed to “prevent localities from over-regulating occupancy, parking, setback and other factors,” according to Housing Forward Virginia, a nonprofit which advocates for more affordable housing.
Dropping from the City’s top priorities for 2025 is the city’s support of reform to public notice laws in the Commonwealth which required publishing written public notices in local newspapers, a process the City referred to as “lengthy and expensive” in 2024. Earlier this year, Virginia became one of the first states to allow posting public notices in local online news sources.
The majority of the adopted agenda items are also championed by state and regional partners. For example, another top legislative priority for 2025 in Williamsburg is an initiative called Trail757 (formerly Birthplace of America Trail). If built, the trail would run from Ft. Monroe in Hampton through Williamsburg and connect with the Capital Trail in Jamestown, forming a paved path from the tip of the Peninsula all the way to Richmond. According to the City, their support for the project mirrors that of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, who are leading the way on securing funding for the trail.
Passenger rail service for the region remains an “issue of focus” according to Williamsburg’s latest agenda document. In particular, the City joins in calling for a third daily train running through Williamsburg on the way to Newport News. Another mainstay of the annual agenda’s is the City’s support for projects at The College of William and Mary, ranging from funding upgrades to the Law School’s utility plant to veteran transition initiatives.
One new issue raised by the City’s document are efforts to force the Commonwealth of Virginia to fund local police departments. The document claims that Williamsburg joins the Virginia Municipal League and Virginia First Cities in calling on “…the state to honor its commitment to local governments and public safety by funding the program as stipulated in the Code of Virginia.”
(Update: 1-6-25 The headline was updated for clarity and to identify the piece as news.)
George Arbogust is Founder and Editor of the Williamsburg Independent. You can contribute too! Send tips and story ideas to contact@williamsburgindependent.com.