Parkersburg looks to beat Home Rule clock
Without legislation, program expires July 1
PARKERSBURG — City officials hope to submit a pair of proposed ordinances to the West Virginia Municipal Home Rule Board this spring because they might not get another chance.
Parkersburg City Council’s Public Works Committee voted Wednesday to refer proposals to define and regulate motorized bicycles and to expand the criteria for which residential property owners can be cited for nuisance accumulations of materials to the full council for action. Because portions of the legislation are contrary to state law, the city must first submit them to the home rule board for approval.
But the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program enacted in 2007 is due to sunset on July 1 if the West Virginia Legislature does not extend the program or make it permanent. The Senate passed such legislation earlier this month, while the House of Delegates tabled a similar bill after debate over whether to include a provision prohibiting municipalities from passing ordinances in conflict with the state’s Workplace Freedom Act and Labor-Management Relations Act.
The bill was tabled in the House Government Organization Committee, of which Delegate Tom Azinger, R-Wood, is a member. He said he anticipates the House will take action on the Senate version of the bill.
Azinger said he supports making the program permanent because it lets municipalities streamline regulations and address issues like dilapidated housing.
“This gives the cities some latitude,” he said.
But with no guarantee such a bill will pass before the legislative session ends March 9, Parkersburg City Attorney Joe Santer said consideration of these ordinances was timed so they could be approved before the program is set to expire.
“We hope to get before the Home Rule Board at their next meeting, April 10, assuming of course City Council authorizing the mayor to submit the application to them,” Santer said.
Before applying, the city must hold a public hearing, requiring 30 days’ notice. Santer said that would place the first readings of the ordinances at the March 26 council meeting, then a special meeting would be needed in early April for the final readings.
“If we can have it approved and in place by July 1, we are covered under the existing Home Rule law,” he said.
Even if the program is not extended, ordinances passed by cities under home rule — including in Parkersburg early Sunday alcohol sales and, most significantly, the 1 percent sales tax — would remain in place, Santer said.
“Any ordinance that was passed as part of home rule would stay in effect unless it was later repealed by the city that initiated it,” he said.