Zoning › State preemptions › West Virginia

WV SB 187 / HB 4115 (2026) — Housing Opportunity Act (Duplex By-Right, PENDING) (WV)

Tracked preemption from the West Virginia overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
None
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 §8-1-5a — Municipal Home Rule Program (Authority Expansion)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 Floor
Primary-source summary
2026 Regular Session (January-March 2026) **SB 187** / **HB 4115** (proposed): "Housing Opportunity Act" — would require Class I and II municipalities to permit duplexes as-of-right in all SFR districts. Status as of April 2026: **passed Senate, pending House vote**; not enacted. **HB 4221**: design-standards-limitation bill (would bar municipalities from requiring specific cladding/roof materials beyond minimum IBC) — **pending in committee**. No IZ bill introduced.

Trigger predicate

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

AND
  • city.city_class ∈ {I, II}
  • parcel.base_zone_category ∈ {res_sf}

Preempted fields

1 field on the base district schema is rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
base_districts[category=res_sf].allowed_usesaddduplexWould require Class I and II municipalities to permit duplexes as-of-right in all SFR districts — NOT YET ENACTED as of 2026-05-20

Citation

Authority source
WV SB 187 / HB 4115 (2026 Regular Session); proposed amendment to W. Va. Code §8A-7
§ Pending — Senate passed, House had not concurred as of April 2026
https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/

Research notes

PENDING — DO NOT APPLY. As of 2026-05-20, SB 187/HB 4115 passed the Senate but had not cleared the House. Post-March 2026 sine die status needs verification. If enacted, this would be WV's first statewide single-family upzoning floor. Companion pending bills: HB 4221 (design-standards cap on cladding/roof materials beyond IBC) and HB 5630 (additional §8A-7 notice requirements). Recent history: HB 3052 (2024), HB 3052/SB 231 (2025) ADU-by-right bills, HB 5347 (2024) missing-middle bill, SB 453 (2024) STR preemption — all died.