DECEMBER 2011 Rezoning Not Necessary For Morgan’s Grove Project
Letter to the Editor Residents of Shepherdstown and surrounding ar-
eas should know that on November 8 the Jefferson County Planning Commission recommended rezoning the property south of Morgan’s Grove Park from Rural District to Industrial-Commercial District. This was in response to an application from property owner Peter Corum to expand operations for distributing Jefferson County agricultural products. What many supporters of sustainable agriculture in Jefferson County may not know is that: Rezoning to Industrial-Commercial District would
allow heavy industrial use (such as petroleum refining, sawmills, slaughterhouses, chemical and explosive manufacturing, concrete and cement manufacturing, garbage or animal reduction processing and more) light industrial use and commercial use on a site ad- jacent to a well-used park, surrounded by homes and one mile from historic Shepherdstown. The agricultural goals that Mr. Corum maintains he
wants to achieve can be accomplished under the cur- rent zoning through a Conditional Use Permit. County staff indicated to Mr. Corum that they would work
with him to allow these uses, and there should be no problem allowing them under the existing zoning. They also indicated that in their view, rezoning this site as Industrial – Commercial was inconsistent with the Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan. Regardless of what facilities Mr. Corum ultimately
decides to install at this site, zoning is attached to the property, not the owner. If and when Mr. Corum sells the property, future owners will have the right to develop the site for any number of industrial uses having nothing to do with county agriculture. Mr. Corum maintains that setback requirements for indus- trial uses preclude any such development on the site. But these requirements can be waived by the Board of Zoning Appeals. Exemptions can and do happen fre- quently, and existing requirements provide no protec- tion from industrial activity. The Planning Commission overrode their staff’s rec- ommendations to deny this rezoning. They dismissed the objections of at least seven nearby homeowners who attended the hearing and those of Mike Austin, President of the Shepherdstown Men’s Club, which
GOLD’S GYM FAMILY FITNESS CENTER MERRY FITNESS Tanning - Group Exercise Classes - Juice Bar
Women’s Workout Room - Cardio Cinema - Childcare Full Basketball Court (CT) - Fast-Fit Total Body Circuit Personal Training Available and lot’s more!
UNLIMITED GYM TIME AT ANY OF THE 4 GYMS CHARLES TOWN ~ MARTINSBURG ~ WINCHESTER ~ HAGERSTOWN
Call 1-800-574-1648 GOLD’S GYM 7 DAY VIP PASS
Must be 18 and first time user. Must have local ID. Some restrictions may apply. Please present pass to redeem.
MEMBERSHIPS NOW $49 DOWN $19.99 PER MONTH
Bring this ad in and receive 1 month of FREE childcare! Offer expires 12/31/2011
owns the park. Although Mr. Corum and his partners sought a quick decision from the County Commission at their November 17 meeting, their effort to rush judgment on this without significant public input was in violation of the WV open meetings act. The County Commission has now scheduled discussion of this pro- posed rezoning for its December 8 meeting. Please con- tact Commissioners and attend the meeting to voice your concerns about rezoning this site for industrial uses.
Those who support local agriculture can do so under
existing zoning. If you have indicated support for a farmer’s market at the Morgan’s Grove site in the past, but were unaware of the industrial rezoning effort, please let Commissioners know of your concern. Re- zoning this site is unnecessary and will do nothing but open the door to industrial uses in Shepherdstown’s backyard. There is nothing sustainable or environ- mental about that.
Sincerely, Amy Mathews Amos, Shepherdstown
04
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32