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VA HB1234

VA HB1234
Land development; definitions, solar canopies in surface parking areas, delayed effective date.

summary

Introduced
01/14/2026
In Committee
03/02/2026
Crossed Over
03/06/2026
Passed
Dead

Introduced Session

2026 Regular Regular Session

Bill Summary

Land development; solar canopies in parking areas. Provides that any locality may include in its land development ordinances a provision that requires that an applicant must install a solar canopy over designated surface parking areas. Such provisions shall apply only to nonresidential parking areas with 100 or more new off-street contiguous parking spaces and may require coverage of up to 50 percent of the surface parking area. The bill provides that an ordinance adopted pursuant to this bill shall be subject to various additional requirements and shall allow for deviations, in whole or in part, from the requirements of the ordinance when its strict application would prevent the development of uses and densities otherwise allowed by the locality's zoning or development ordinance or when a property owner shows that the solar canopy, if installed as otherwise required under the ordinance, will generate less than 75 percent of the electricity that would be expected, given the nameplate capacity of the solar modules installed on such canopy, if the canopy was to be installed at another location in the locality without surrounding impediments to insolation such as buildings or shading vegetation. Finally, the bill provides that the applicant or owner may use the electric energy generated from such solar canopy to offset the consumption of the parking lot or adjoining building served under the same account. This bill incorporates HB 457, has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, and is identical to SB 26.

AI Summary

This bill allows local governments to require solar canopies, which are structures with solar panels above parking areas, to be installed over up to 50% of new, non-residential surface parking lots that have at least 100 contiguous parking spaces. These requirements must apply equally to all such parking areas, including publicly owned ones, and cannot count the solar canopy as additional impervious area for stormwater management purposes, nor do they require landscaping or tree canopy coverage on the area covered by the canopy. The bill also specifies that these requirements do not apply to mixed-use developments where at least half of the construction is for residential use, and allows for deviations from the requirements if strict application would prevent otherwise permitted development or if the solar canopy would generate less than 75% of its expected electricity due to shading. The energy generated can be used to offset the electricity consumption of the parking lot or an adjacent building under the same account, and the bill incorporates a previous bill (HB 457) with an effective date of July 1, 2027.

Committee Categories

Government Affairs

Sponsors (14)

Last Action

Senate substitute agreed to by House (67-Y 30-N 0-A) (on 03/06/2026)

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