                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PURPOSE OF ZONING ORDINANCES (§ 15.2-2283)

Zoning ordinances shall be for the general purpose of promoting the health,
safety or general welfare of the public and of further accomplishing the
objectives of § 15.2-2200. To these ends, such ordinances shall be designed to
give reasonable consideration to each of the following purposes, where
applicable: (i) to provide for adequate light, air, convenience of access, and
safety from fire, flood, impounding structure failure, crime and other dangers;
(ii) to reduce or prevent congestion in the public streets; (iii) to facilitate
the creation of a convenient, attractive and harmonious community; (iv) to
facilitate the provision of adequate police and fire protection, disaster
evacuation, civil defense, transportation, water, sewerage, flood protection,
schools, parks, forests, playgrounds, recreational facilities, airports and
other public requirements; (v) to protect against destruction of or encroachment
upon historic areas and working waterfront development areas; (vi) to protect
against one or more of the following: overcrowding of land, undue density of
population in relation to the community facilities existing or available,
obstruction of light and air, danger and congestion in travel and
transportation, or loss of life, health, or property from fire, flood,
impounding structure failure, panic or other dangers; (vii) to encourage
economic development activities that provide desirable employment and enlarge
the tax base; (viii) to provide for the preservation of agricultural and
forestal lands and other lands of significance for the protection of the natural
environment; (ix) to protect approach slopes and other safety areas of licensed
airports, including United States government and military air facilities; (x) to
promote the creation and preservation of affordable housing suitable for meeting
the current and future needs of the locality as well as a reasonable proportion
of the current and future needs of the planning district within which the
locality is situated; (xi) to provide reasonable protection against encroachment
upon military bases, military installations, and military airports and their
adjacent safety areas, excluding armories operated by the Virginia National
Guard; and (xii) to provide reasonable modifications in accordance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq.) or state
and federal fair housing laws, as applicable. Such ordinance may also include
reasonable provisions, not inconsistent with applicable state water quality
standards, to protect surface water and ground water as defined in § 62.1-255.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 15-821, 15-968.3; 1962, c. 407, § 15.1-489; 1966, c.
344; 1968, c. 407; 1975, c. 641; 1976, c. 642; 1980, c. 321; 1983, c. 439; 1988,
c. 439; 1989, cc. 447, 449; 1990, cc. 19, 169, 384; 1992, c. 812; 1993, cc. 758,
884; 1997, c. 587; 2004, c. 799; 2008, c. 491; 2017, c. 216; 2018, c. 757.