republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-225.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Removal of dangerous roadside vegetation; local option."
description: "Removal of dangerous roadside conditions; local option. Authorizes any locality, by ordinance, to require the owner of any property located adjacent to a right-of-way maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation to remove any and all trees, tree limbs, shrubs, high grass, or other substance that might dangerously obstruct the line of sight of a driver, be involved in a collision with a vehicle, or interfere with the safe operation of a vehicle. This bill is identical to HB 284."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 225"
citation: "Virginia SB 225 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard H. Stuart"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 42
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2019-12-31"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bdb62464-b387-4a4a-8d74-62c5232c155e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB225"
source_hash: "cc5db4d2c1ae44356e907aba892b84771e01a6447aaf5d27db7b864d3c33a230"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 225 (2020) — Removal of dangerous roadside vegetation; local option.

Removal of dangerous roadside conditions; local option. Authorizes any locality, by ordinance, to require the owner of any property located adjacent to a right-of-way maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation to remove any and all trees, tree limbs, shrubs, high grass, or other substance that might dangerously obstruct the line of sight of a driver, be involved in a collision with a vehicle, or interfere with the safe operation of a vehicle. This bill is identical to HB 284.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0963)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0963)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB225ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB225ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB225E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB225E)
4. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB225E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB225)

## Votes

- Senate acceded to request (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendments (20-Y 2-N) — **20–2** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (82-Y 17-N) — **81–17** (pass) · lower
- House amendments rejected by Senate (2-Y 38-N) — **2–38** (fail) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 1-N) — **7–1** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (78-Y 19-N) — **77–19** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 3-N) — **37–3** (pass) · upper
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Local Government (10-Y 0-N 3-A) — **10–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Richard H. Stuart — primary (person)
- Jill Holtzman Vogel — cosponsor (person)
- Joshua G. Cole — cosponsor (person)
- Mark L. Cole — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-12-31** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100283D `introduction`
- **2019-12-31** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Reported from Local Government (10-Y 0-N 3-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-14** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-15** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-15** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-01-15** Amendment by Senator Stuart agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2020-01-15** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB225E
- **2020-01-15** Printed as engrossed 20100283D-E
- **2020-01-16** Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 3-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-24** Impact statement from DPB (SB225E)
- **2020-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-13** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-13** Assigned CC & T sub: Land Use `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-21** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-21** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendments (20-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-25** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-26** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-26** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-26** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2020-02-26** Passed House with amendments (82-Y 17-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-26** VOTE: Passage (82-Y 17-N)
- **2020-02-28** Passed by for the day
- **2020-03-02** House amendments rejected by Senate (2-Y 38-N)
- **2020-03-03** House insisted on amendments
- **2020-03-03** House requested conference committee
- **2020-03-04** Senate acceded to request (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-04** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2020-03-05** Conferees appointed by House
- **2020-03-05** Amended by conference committee
- **2020-03-05** Conference report agreed to by House (78-Y 19-N)
- **2020-03-05** VOTE: Adoption (78-Y 19-N)
- **2020-03-07** Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-18** Enrolled
- **2020-03-18** Signed by President
- **2020-03-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-20** Impact statement from DPB (SB225ER)
- **2020-03-20** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 20, 2020
- **2020-03-20** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 963 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bdb62464-b387-4a4a-8d74-62c5232c155e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).