Victoria Officials to Hold Public Hearing on Invasive Plants

VICTORIA – Victoria officials continued recent discussions centered around property maintenance and invasive plants that began with concerns over vegetation such as bamboo extending from one property onto neighboring land locations.

The town council has been looking at different options and the best way to implement possible changes to an ordinance. They have recently had discussions and legal assistance from Virginia Municipal League (VML) representatives in order to be in line with state regulations for buffer and other regulations.

The Victoria Town Council Property Committee has recommended an addition to the existing ordinance that states, “It shall be a misdemeanor for any person who owns or occupies property within the town to permit the existence on the property of any live or dead hedge, shrub, tree, other vegetation, or foreign growth, any part of which extends or protrudes across a property line to an adjacent property.”

Victoria Town Manager Rodney Newton said that the “foreign growth” addition to the ordinance covers plants that are not native to this area.

The council members decided that they would hold a public hearing during the regularly scheduled January meeting of the group in order to hear any comments on the proposed ordinance.