Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/09/2015

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May 25, 2015 1 Volume 9 1 Issue 10 Zoning Bulletin d/b/a Dominion Virginia Power ("Dominion") filed an application with the State Corporation Commission (the "Commission") seeking the issuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity ("CPCNs") authorizing the construction of electric transmission facilities (the "Project") in James City County under Code § 56-265.2 of the Virginia Utility Facilities Act, and ap- proval under Code § 5646.1. Eventually, the Commission issued an order (the "Certificate Order") grant- ing the CPCNs to Dominion. Several opponents of the Project challenged the granting of the Certificate of Order. Among those opponents were James City County, Save the James Alliance Trust, and James River Association (collec- tively, "JCC"). JCC appealed from the Certificate Order to the Supreme Court of Virginia. Among other things, JCC argued that the Commission erred in its construction and application of Code § 56-46.1(F) in finding that the Project's utility switching station was a "transmission line" under that provision and thus exempt from local zoning regulations. DECISION: Judgment of State Corporation Commission reversed in part, and matter remanded. Agreeing with JCC, the Supreme Court of Virginia held that the Project's switching station was not a "transmission line" under Code § 56-46.1(F) of the Virginia Utility Facilities Act, and was therefore subject to local zoning regulations. In so holding, the court looked at the plain language of the Code. Code § 56-46.1(F) states: "Approval of a trans -mission line pursuant to this section shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of [Code] § 15.2-2232 and local zoning ordinances with respect to such transmission line." The Commission had found that switching stations and transmission lines functioned together as "inseparable" components and thus should be governed under the same authority. The Commission had construed "transmission line," as used in that provision, to include switching stations, so that Code § 56- 46.1(F) exempted the Project's switching station from the requirements of James City County zoning ordinances. The Supreme Court of Virginia held that construction was error. The court explained that in determining whether certain structures or uses are exempt from local zoning ordinances, there must be a "manifest intention on the part of the legislature" to exempt them. Looking at the plain language of Code § 56-46.1(F), the court found that the intention to exempt switching stations from local zoning ordinances is not manifest within Code § 56-46.1. Rather, the court found that under the plain language of Code § 56-46.1(F), the only structures or uses expressly exempt from local zoning ordinances are transmission lines. The court also found that the term "transmission lines" does not include switching stations. Although Title 56 of the Code of Virginia, governing public utilities, does not define the tem]. "transmission line" as used in Code § 56-46.1(F), the court found that "[a] layperson" could identify the plain meaning of a transmission line: "the wires used to transmit electric current over great distances and the structures necessary to physically support those wires." With that definition, the court concluded that " `[t]ransmission line' does not mean `switching 8 © 2015 Thomson Reuters