When the Virginia General Assembly approved a bill in January 2020 that allowed jurisdictions to impose a 5-cent tax on disposable plastic bags, Fredericksburg City Council member Kerry Devine was
There are many times Fredericksburg City Council members agrees on an issue and vote accordingly. The decision Tuesday night to enforce a new sign ordinance was not one of those
Fredericksburg Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw and City Council members donât believe there is a good way to navigate recent General Assembly legislation requiring the city to move its elections from May to November.
The billâSB1157âoverrides Fredericksburgâs charter for City Council and School Board elections and will take effect in November 2022 if Gov. Ralph Northam signs it into law at the end of the month. City Council members say they will be hard-pressed to hold the next election before incoming census data influences redistricting efforts in 2022.
Thatâs why council members decided it may be best to get ahead of the General Assemblyâs new bill and hold elections for four ward seats this November instead of next. Council members directed City Attorney Kathleen Dooley to draft an ordinance that would move Fredericksburgâs elections to odd-numbered years instead of even-numbered years beginning this fall.
Business owners in downtown Fredericksburg arenât being quiet about a proposed noise ordinance scheduled for a City Council vote this month.
The owner of Billikenâs Smokehouse at the Chimneys has circulated an online petition that has been signed by more than 1,400 people encouraging the City Council not to go forward with the downtown ordinance.
A total of 16 lettersâall taking a strong stance against the ordinanceâwere read at the City Council meeting last week.
âYou canât keep regulating and regulating and regulating, because then people like me are gone,â said Gregory Shalawylo, the owner of Billikenâs Smokehouse restaurant on Caroline Street. âAnd then what do you have? You have nothing.