Zoning › State preemptions › West Virginia

W. Va. Code §8-1-5a — Municipal Home Rule Program (Authority Expansion) (WV)

Tracked preemption from the West Virginia overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
2007-07-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:WV
Other West Virginia preemptions
Federal Protected Lands — New River Gorge NP, Monongahela NF, USACE Locks/DamsW. Va. Code §22-6A — Horizontal Well Control Act (Marcellus/Utica Preemption)W. Va. Code Chapter 8A — Land Use Planning Act (Enabling + Dillon's Rule Cap)W. Va. Code §8A-7-8 — County Zoning Voter Referendum RequirementW. Va. Code §22-3 — Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act (SMCRA Primacy)WV Floodplain Management — NFIP Participation MandateW. Va. Code §8-12-5(16) — Manufactured Housing Nondiscrimination FloorWV SB 187 / HB 4115 (2026) — Housing Opportunity Act (Duplex By-Right, PENDING)

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

city.home_rule_enrolled == True

Preempted fields

2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
ordinance_inconsistent_with_state_law_permittedoverrideTrueEnrolled municipalities may enact ordinances inconsistent with state law, subject to reserved-area carve-outs
home_rule_reserved_areasoverride['environment', 'personal_income_tax', 'criminal_procedure', 'fiduciary_law', 'pensions', 'civil_service', 'state_business_licenses', 'manufactured_housing', 'oil_gas', 'mining']Home rule cannot override manufactured-housing, oil/gas, or mining preemptions

Citation

Authority source
W. Va. Code §8-1-5a; SB 4 (2019, made permanent); HB 2094 / SB 438 (2021 expansion)
§ Chapter 8, Article 1, §8-1-5a
https://code.wvlegislature.gov/8/

Research notes

Opposite of MA §3A: WV home rule EXPANDS local authority rather than imposing state floors. Charleston, Huntington, Wheeling, Morgantown, Martinsburg, Parkersburg, Fairmont, Beckley, Bridgeport, Clarksburg, Weirton, and many others are enrolled. Common uses: streamlined building/demolition enforcement, blight ordinances, vacant-property registries, on-street parking, alcohol hours, limited STR registration. Cannot touch the three core state preemption domains.