GREENBRIER COUNTY W.Va. (WVDN) – The Greenbrier County Commission held two public meetings for open discussion on the new updated zoning ordinance. Both days, the room was filled with citizens eager to make their opinions on the new ordinance known.
Commissioner Holliday opened the meeting by assuring everyone that the ordinance wouldn’t be put in place without several changes being made first, based on feedback obtained during the meetings.
One of the first speakers was Debbie Bowman. She was wondering why all the land around her was zoned open-air conservation except for one small piece zoned as forest recreation. Bowman wanted to know what the difference was to cause land so close together to be zoned differently.
Coming before the Commission was also Todd Longanacre. First on Longanacre’s mind was the yard requirements within the new zoning ordinance. According to Longanacre, within that segment are specifications for outdoor fireplace sizes. His concern was what if you already have one and it’s outside those set numbers specified as acceptable. He wanted to know if a person would be fined.
Then Longanacre went on to say, “We’re a red county. That’s one of the benefits of being in a red county– you deregulated us and not put more regulations upon us.” Longanacre said he attended a Planning Commission meeting in Lewisburg and learned that a political science major at WVU that doesn’t live in this area, put language allowing the relaxing of the standoff distance for businesses in the ordinance. More specifically, it could encourage exotic dance halls and exotic dance businesses to actually be created or be much closer than what the current standard is. Longanacre said, “I hope that will be corrected.”
Adrian Williams said she was from a 200-year-old family-run farm that, under the new ordinance, is now zoned residential. She said this will not be good for her family nor the neighbors, who are also farmers.
Melinda Perine also expressed concern over the new zoning ordinance. Perine said Greenbrier County has a reputation for being so restrictive now. She said people want to move and the county needs to be more progressive.
Charlie Long was also concerned about the ordinance; “What concerns me is what’s going to happen after you guys [commissioners] are gone [replaced], maybe not me and the older ones,” Long went on. “But you younger ones.”
“I’m basically a farmer. It’s getting harder to work in Greenbrier County than in the city of Lewisburg,” Long said.
Many other residents expressed concerns and opinions during the public meetings. The Greenbrier County Commission will hold its regular meeting next week on Tuesday, March 10 beginning at 10 a.m. Discussion of the updated zoning ordinance is on the agenda. The West Virginia Daily News/The Greenbrier Independent will have a full report on that meeting.
As the meeting drew to a close, the underlying tension between preserving the county’s rural identity and adapting to future growth remained unresolved. While Commissioner Holliday’s opening promise—that the ordinance is a work in progress rather than a finished product—offered some solace, the specific concerns regarding property rights, agricultural heritage, and regulatory overreach suggest a long road ahead for the Planning Commission. For the farmers, homeowners, and long-time residents of Greenbrier County, the goal isn’t just a updated map, but a guarantee that the land they’ve spent generations tending won’t be regulated out from under them.
