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I don’t follow the logic behind Virginia Senate Bill 400 (SB 400), currently under consideration in the 2022 legislative session. The way it has been drafted, it may not relieve the builders of certain “agritourism event buildings” of their potential duty to comply with the Uniform Statewide Building Code. The January 12 draft of SB 400 indicates that it would apply to buildings “primarily used for holding events and entertainment gatherings open to the public” and require that they be outfitted with a list of safety features. But in so defining “agritourism event building,” SB 400 could put the owners and builders of certain “farm buildings” (as defined in current law) in a tricky situation.
If an owner/builder were to declare that the building’s primary use is for “holding events and entertainment gatherings open to the public,” then such a declaration could constitute an admission that the building’s primary use is not one of the qualifying uses identified under the “farm building” exemption in current law. And in that case, the building would have to comply with the building code – which has requirements that can go well beyond the list of safety features envisioned in SB 400.
The sort of tricky situations I’m thinking of here are the conference and meeting venues constructed adjacent to farm winery tasting rooms, or the brand-new barns built primarily to serve as wedding event venues, etc.
References:
SB 400 in the 2022 legislative session:
https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=221&typ=bil&val=sb400
The the current definition of “farm building” as it relates to the USBC:
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title36/chapter6/section36-97/
Exemption of “farm buildings” from the building code (refer to sub-section “B”):
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title36/chapter6/section36-99/
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