republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/sb-1173.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Vested property rights; nonconforming uses.	Provides that if a structure is one that requires no permit, and an authorized local government official informs the property owner that the structure will comply with the zoning ordinance, and the improvement was thereafter constructed, a zoning ordinance may provide that the structure is nonconforming but shall not provide that such structure is illegal and subject to removal solely due to such nonconformity. The bill provides that in any proceeding when the authorized local government official is deceased or is otherwise unavailable to testify, uncorroborated testimony of the oral statement of such official shall not be sufficient evidence to prove that the authorized local government official made such statement. The provisions of the bill are declared to not be deemed retroactive.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2017	SB 1173	Virginia SB 1173 (2017)	bill	Counties Cities and Towns	enacted	Mark D. Obenshain	3	20	7	2017-01-10	2017-03-13	openstates	ocd-bill/2a840cf6-e62d-4ef6-999c-adcdf98f8e34	http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB1173	ee1ebfa27b33bb7db44e78842fa91681608d87371dac4c52e05be7a27c2c98ba	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 1173 (2017) — Vested property rights; nonconforming uses.

Provides that if a structure is one that requires no permit, and an authorized local government official informs the property owner that the structure will comply with the zoning ordinance, and the improvement was thereafter constructed, a zoning ordinance may provide that the structure is nonconforming but shall not provide that such structure is illegal and subject to removal solely due to such nonconformity. The bill provides that in any proceeding when the authorized local government official is deceased or is otherwise unavailable to testify, uncorroborated testimony of the oral statement of such official shall not be sufficient evidence to prove that the authorized local government official made such statement. The provisions of the bill are declared to not be deemed retroactive.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0404) (committee substitute) — source
2. Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1173ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17103645D (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed — 40–0 (pass) · legislature
• Read third time and passed Senate — 40–0 (pass) · legislature
• House amendment agreed to by Senate — 40–0 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment — 21–0 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Local Government — 13–0 (pass) · legislature
• Passed House with amendment BLOCK VOTE — 98–0 (pass) · legislature
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments — 10–0 (pass) · legislature

Sponsors

• Mark D. Obenshain — primary (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2017-01-10 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17103645D introduction
• 2017-01-10 Referred to Committee on Local Government referral-committee
• 2017-01-27 Passed by for the day
• 2017-01-30 Read second time and engrossed reading-2
• 2017-01-31 Passed by for the day
• 2017-02-03 Placed on Calendar
• 2017-02-03 Read first time reading-1
• 2017-02-03 Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns referral-committee
• 2017-02-03 Assigned CC & T sub: Subcommittee #2 referral-committee
• 2017-02-13 Read second time reading-2
• 2017-02-14 Read third time reading-3
• 2017-02-14 Committee amendment agreed to
• 2017-02-14 Engrossed by House as amended
• 2017-02-14 Passed House with amendment BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) passage
• 2017-02-20 Enrolled
• 2017-02-20 Signed by Speaker
• 2017-02-21 Signed by President
• 2017-02-21 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/21/17
• 2017-02-21 Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
• 2017-03-13 Approved by Governor-Chapter 404 (effective 7/1/17) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/2a840cf6-e62d-4ef6-999c-adcdf98f8e34. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).