Virginia Law

A. A local governing body will be permitted to request amendments to approved applications for zone designation in accordance with the procedures and requirements set out in this section. Each jurisdiction participating in a joint zone may amend their portion of the application, including boundaries and incentives, independently of the other participating jurisdictions.

B. The applicant jurisdiction must be current on the submission of annual reports as set forth in 13VAC5-112-550 in order to amend an approved application.

C. The applicant jurisdiction must hold at least one public hearing on the requested amendment prior to its submission to the department. This public hearing may not have been held more than six months prior to the amendment submission. In the case of a boundary amendment that involves the elimination of area or areas, the applicant jurisdiction must separately notify each property owner and business located within the affected area of the proposed amendment prior to holding the public hearing.

D. A request for an amendment must be submitted to the department on Form EZ-2. This form must be accompanied by a resolution of the local governing body and must certify that the applicant jurisdiction held the public hearing required in subsection C of this section prior to the adoption of the resolution. In the case of a joint application, Form EZ-2 must be completed by the jurisdiction requesting the amendment and must be accompanied by Form EZ-2-JA. This form certifies that the other participating jurisdictions are in agreement in filing the request for amendment.

E. An enterprise zone application may be amended annually, at least 12 months from the last amendment application by the jurisdiction. Amendments may be to the entire application or individual sections such as the boundary or incentives.

F. A zone boundary amendment may not consist of a site for a single business firm or be less than 10 acres.

G. A noncontiguous area may be added to an enterprise zone through a boundary amendment. However, no enterprise zone shall have more than three noncontiguous areas.

H. The total zone acreage resulting from a boundary amendment must conform to the size guidelines set forth in 13VAC5-112-440.

I. Boundary amendments that involve the elimination of area or areas from a zone shall be reviewed by the department with the potential impact on affected businesses and property owners being given primary consideration. Such boundary changes shall not exceed the maximum size provisions of 13VAC5-112-440 C.

J. A county may amend its zone boundaries to include as part of the county's total acreage, acreage in any town located within the county provided it meets the provisions of subsections A through I of this section. This shall not constitute a joint zone and does not provide the town with the ability to make any zone amendments, add noncontiguous areas or give the town its own zone acreage allocation. In such situations, towns may provide local incentives in addition to the county incentives.

K. The department will approve an amendment to local incentives only when the proposed incentive is equal to or superior to that in the original application or any previous amendment approved by the department. The department will approve an amendment of zone boundaries only if the proposed amendment is deemed to be consistent with the purposes of the program as determined by the department.

L. A local governing body that is denied an application amendment shall be provided with the reasons for denial.