2014 Virginia Code
Title 33.1 - Highways, Bridges and Ferries
§ 33.1-18. (Repealed effective October 1, 2014) Location of routes

The Commonwealth Transportation Board shall not locate and establish any route under subdivision (1) of § 33.1-12 until: the Department of Transportation has (i) published in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the county, city, or town in which the route is to be located and established a notice of its willingness to hold a public hearing on the matter, (ii) notified the governing body of the county, city, or town in which the route is to be located of its willingness to hold a public hearing on the matter, and (iii) held a public hearing, if one has been requested.

If a public hearing is requested, written notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given, not less than thirty days prior to the hearing, to the governing body of the county, city, or town in which the route is to be located and established. Not less than thirty days prior to the hearing, a notice of the time and place of the hearing shall also be published by the Department of Transportation at least once in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the county, city, or town in which the route is to be located and established.

All public hearings on the location or possible location of a route shall be open forums that afford citizens opportunities to obtain route location information and other pertinent information on a proposed project, and to submit their hearing comments in writing or to present them directly to a verbatim recorder. In addition, upon the written request of a member of the governing body of the county, city, or town in which the route is proposed to be located, or upon the written request of twenty-five citizens, these public hearings shall afford citizens an opportunity to present their comments to representatives of the Department of Transportation directly, one speaker at a time, in a public forum following a traditional hearing format. A written request for a traditional hearing must be received within fourteen days following the first published notice of the hearing or willingness to hold a hearing.

Following the public hearing, if one is held as provided in this section, the Department of Transportation shall notify the local governing body of the affected county, city, or town of the Commonwealth Transportation Board's decision regarding the location and establishment of the route.

Code 1950, § 33-17; 1970, c. 322; 1992, c. 44; 2000, c. 489.