republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-1212.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Zoning; small lot residential districts."
description: "Small lot residential zoning districts. Requires any locality with a population of 50,000 or more to adopt, maintain, and apply to land within its boundaries at least one zoning district classification that permits a single-family dwelling on a lot with a minimum lot area not exceeding 3,000 square feet. The bill provides that such zoning district classifications shall not impose minimum lot widths exceeding 30 feet or setback, lot coverage, or density requirements that would preclude construction of eligible dwellings on conforming lots. The bill's provisions do not apply to areas within a historic district."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 1212"
citation: "Virginia HB 1212 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Briana D. Sewell"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 33
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2026-01-14"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6d9d96dd-a4b9-4770-9ac0-50d82a658bb5"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1212"
source_hash: "08f12f40b1c6abfcfea957a20fb9639f51425d240e8269c3885bcd48b5ddbfaf"
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 HB 1212 (2026) — Zoning; small lot residential districts.

Small lot residential zoning districts. Requires any locality with a population of 50,000 or more to adopt, maintain, and apply to land within its boundaries at least one zoning district classification that permits a single-family dwelling on a lot with a minimum lot area not exceeding 3,000 square feet. The bill provides that such zoning district classifications shall not impose minimum lot widths exceeding 30 feet or setback, lot coverage, or density requirements that would preclude construction of eligible dwellings on conforming lots. The bill's provisions do not apply to areas within a historic district.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1087782.PDF)
2. **Counties, Cities and Towns Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132642.PDF)
3. **Local Government Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1188903.HTML)
4. **Senate Amendments** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194826.HTML)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1203633.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute — **17–3** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Local Government with amendments — **8–7** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **62–35** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **21–18** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **61–35** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **60–35** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Briana D. Sewell — primary (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- David A. Reid — cosponsor (person)
- Garrett McGuire — cosponsor (person)
- Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-14** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104253D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-14** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-21** Fiscal Impact statement From CLG (1/21/2026 2:50 pm)
- **2026-01-28** Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-06** House committee offered
- **2026-02-06** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (17-Y 3-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-06** Committee substitute printed 26107349D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-10** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-11** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-11** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-11** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-12** Read third time and passed House (62-Y 35-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-13** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-13** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-02** Senate committee offered
- **2026-03-02** Reported from Local Government with amendments (8-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-03** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-03** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-03** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-04** Local Government Amendments agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-04** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2026-03-04** Passed Senate with amendments (21-Y 18-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-06** Senate amendments agreed to by House (60-Y 35-N 0-A) `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-06** Reconsideration of Senate amendments agreed to by House `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-06** Senate amendments agreed to by House (61-Y 35-N 0-A) `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-13** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-13** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1212ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-13** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-13** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 751 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6d9d96dd-a4b9-4770-9ac0-50d82a658bb5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).