LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – The Greenbrier County Planning Commission held a special meeting on Wednesday, March 8, planned as a discussion/working session with municipal leaders and other stakeholders regarding amendments to the county comprehensive plan which was passed in 2014 but requires amendments to conform to state code.
The only municipal representatives attending were Alderson Mayor Copenhaver and a few members of the Alderson Planning Committee.
“I am requesting that you put the discussion and decisions on the passage of this county comprehensive plan on the agenda for the next meeting,” said Copenhaver, stating he was requesting this so that he could personally contact a few more mayors and encourage them to be present.
The Alderson mayor said that the wording in the 2014 comprehensive plan had eliminated chances for federal funding of $2.5 million to extend the water system of Alderson to residences and businesses up Rt. 12.
“The statement on page 6 says that growth and infrastructure should be limited in areas not identified for growth,” he noted.
He said, “We were shovel ready; we had the manpower, but the federal funds were not available for the materials because of this wording.”
The current plan, adopted in 2014, was targeted for revision by the West Virginia Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic, a service offered through West Virginia University.
The law clinic stated that West Virginia Code requires that a comprehensive plan include a statement of goals and objectives; the 2014 plan had only “policies,” and these need to be changed to either goals or objectives.
The 2014 plan also has many statements regarding the limited capability of the county to spearhead any development programs, repeatedly stating that “It is not practical in Greenbrier County because of limited budget and lack of staffing.”
Now, an implementation matrix has been added. This is also because West Virginia code requires that action steps must be listed to direct developers to funding sources. These funding sources, available to the county and municipalities, are listed and include entities such as the Benedum Foundation, the Governor’s Community Participation Grant program, KaBOOM (a granting program that provides funds for playgrounds and play spaces), the Land and Water Conservation Fund and others.
Eleven new maps are part of the plan, as well. A Future Land Use Map has divided the county into areas called Designated Growth, Town, Transition, Resource Stewardship and Rural.
The detail of Resource Stewardship states these areas are planned to protect the rural nature by limiting development. Rural areas are described as having limited residential and neighborhood commercial development.
The Adaptive Reuse section states that new development should be encouraged where previous structures stood but are now not in use, “particularly in slums and blighted areas,” to lessen the need for residential development in the unincorporated areas.
The maps included with the plan are all located in Appendix C: Greenbrier County Map, Greenbrier Co. Land Use Map, Future Land Use Map, Zoning Map, Designated Historic Areas and Structures Map, Business and Industrial Map, (floodplains and karst) Natural Hazards Map, Water Resources Map, Inhabited Structures Map, Infrastructure and Services Map and (public) Transportation Map. Maps are available for view at the county courthouse.
The next Planning Commission meeting will be held in April, and further discussion on the list of amendments will continue toward the goal of adoption by the Planning Commission which will then be sent to the Greenbrier County Commission for their vote.
The West Virginia code will be updated again in a few years, at which time the county plan will have to be amended to conform to the state version. This will be an ongoing process.
