SB26Introduced in the Senate
Land development; definitions, solar canopies in surface parking areas, delayed effective date.
Introduced by Jennifer Carroll Foy, District 33
What does this bill do?
Plain-English breakdown
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Official description
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 were 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. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 1234.
Where it stands
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0758)
April 13, 2026
How did lawmakers vote?
House of Delegates votes
2 recorded votes · each counted separately
Senate votes
4 recorded votes · each counted separately
SenateStage: House amendments agreed to by Senate (20-Y 19-N 0-A) · February 27, 2026
20
Yes
19
No
1
Absent or Not Voting
40 senators recorded in this Senate vote. Colors show vote categories only, not whether a vote was good or bad.
See how each senator voted
| Senator | District | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Bennett-Parker | 5 | Yes |
| Michael Jones | 77 | Yes |
| Timmy French | 1 | No |
| Mark Obenshain | 2 | No |
| Chris Head | 3 | No |
| David Suetterlein | 4 | No |
| Travis Hackworth | 5 | No |
| Todd Pillion | 6 | No |
| William Stanley | 7 | No |
| Mark Peake | 8 | No |
Bill history
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100558D
Referred to Committee on Local Government
Senate committee offered
Reported from Local Government with substitute (8-Y 7-N)
Committee substitute printed 26107468D-S1
Rules suspended
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
Read second time
Committee substitute agreed to
Floor offered Senator Carroll Foy Amendment
Reading of amendment waived (Voice Vote)
Senator Carroll Foy Amendment agreed to
Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute as amended (Voice Vote)
Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A)
Placed on Calendar
Read first time
Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns
Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (18-Y 3-N)
Read second time
Floor offered Delegate Sewell Amendments
Read third time
Delegate Sewell Floor amendments agreed to
Engrossed by House as amended
Passed House with amendments (75-Y 21-N 0-A)
House amendments agreed to by Senate (20-Y 19-N 0-A)
Enrolled
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB26ER)
Signed by Speaker
Signed by President
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
Approved by Governor-Chapter 758 (Effective 7/1/2027)
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0758)
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