In The News
Community Input Meetings Scheduled for Comprehensive Plan Update
WV Daily News - May 6, 2025
GREENBRIER COUNTY W.Va. (WVDN) – The ten-year Comprehensive Plan update is underway and community input meetings have been scheduled to take place in May. Preliminary community survey results will be shared at the meetings and opportunities will be provided for additional community input. The following dates, times and locations have been set for the meetings:
May 13 – 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Rupert Community Building, 604 Nicholas St., Rupert, WV 25984
May 15 – 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Alderson Community Building, 317 Chestnut Ave. Alderson, WV 24910
May 19 – 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at WVU Building, 947 Maplewood Ave. Lewisburg, WV 24901
May 27 – 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Bethesda Church, 232 Bob White Ln. White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986
The Comprehensive Plan is our community’s expression of its goals and aspirations with regard to land use patterns and community assets. Greenbrier County last updated its Comprehensive Plan in October of 2014, which can be viewed here: https://greenbriercounty.net/comp-plan/
The community survey remains open and can be accessed at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GreenbrierCountyCompPlanSurvey
Questions about the Comprehensive Plan and the process of adoption can be directed to the Greenbrier County Planning Commission by contacting the Planning & Permits Office at 304-647-6689.
DEP Requests Further Justification for Redaction in Air Quality Permit
Parsons Advocate - April 29, 2025 - Lydia Crawley
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Division of Air Quality General Council Jason Wandling has issued a letter to Casey Chapman as the Responsible Official for Fundamental Data, LLC in regards to redacted confidential business information contained within the company’s air quality permit application.
The letter dated April 25th and released online, outlines, “As you are aware, the Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has received hundreds of public comments concerning the proposed project, many of which have specifically requested release of the information that has been redacted in the public version of the application.”
The letter goes on to say that the outpouring of public comment and written requests has triggered a review of the confidential business information claims by the DEP’s Office of the General Council. The review, the letter states, determined that the information claimed as confidential business information may not qualify for the designation, “as it falls under the definition of ‘Types and Amounts of Air Pollutants Discharged’.”
As a result, the Office of the General Council is requesting further justification from Fundamental Data that is beyond that which is listed on the confidential business information cover document. The letter states this will not stop the technical review of the permit application, but will pause the statutory review clock and place the permit application status as “incomplete.”
Fundamental Data, LLC has 15 days from receipt of the letter to submit a written response to facilitate the continued review of the permit application.
Tucker County Founds First CAI Chapter in WV
Parsons Advocate - April 29, 2025 - Lydia Crawley
Tucker County will lead the State of West Virginia with the founding of the first Chapter of the Community Associations Institute in the State. Kathy Knight informed the Tucker County Commission of the formation of the conditional chapter during the Commission’s April 23rd meeting.
“After 18 to 20 years of West Virginia trying to have a chapter, the Community Association Institute, we’re finally making it happen,” Knight said. “It has been a long, difficult, bloody road, but we are making it happen.”
According to Knight, conditional approval for the Chapter arrived in December just before Christmas. Since the approval arrived, Knight said she and her organization have been working on the necessary paperwork. Knight said that her organization has accomplished in months what most start up chapters take five to seven years to accomplish. However, there is likely an additional two years worth of work yet to complete to finish establishing the Chapter, Knight said.
According to the CAI website, the organization was founded in 1973 and is an international center for community association information, best practices, education and advocacy. The website also states its mission as advancing community association governance, management and quality of life by inspiring professionalism, effective leadership and responsible citizenship.
“They are anything HOA, end of story. They are the gold standard, world class standard,” Knight said. “They are also national and international.”
According to Knight, currently, Tucker County has a total of 33 HOA’s registered. That count is up from an initial number of five in the County when Knight first spoke with the Commission. According to Knight, HOA’s are not tracked at the County or State level. To become an HOA, all that is required, Knight said, is to register the covenants and restrictions with the County Clerk.
Knight said that all the states surrounding West Virginia have at least one Chapter, but West Virginia never has. According to Knight, states such as Virginia have Each state has the ability to learn and use what the others have already done and established, Knight said.
“We’ve never had a Chapter, we’ve never had a voice,” Knight said.
Knight said that Winwood’s HOA at its annual meeting revealed that all of its records had disappeared. Winwood has the only airport in Tucker County, Knight said, and has memorandums of understanding with various entities throughout the area. Knight said the realization of the disappearance of the records came at the annual meeting in April. Documents that are missing, according to Knight include blue prints, schematics and approvals, among others with no explanation.
“We have a problem at Winwood and its a dandy,” Knight said. “It appears, that when you are a Homeowners Association in the state of West Virginia, you are treated as if you are a mock, separate municipality. You govern yourself, make your own laws, supposed to act according to your documents.”
Those documents, Knight said, outline that records must be kept. According to Knight, permanent records are required, including building permits, sire plans, blue prints, approvals and disapprovals.
As president of the Winwood HOA, Knight has seen that the HOA had kept records in the past and had seen the blue prints for herself. However, now Knight said everything is gone.
“It appears there is no coordination and there may possibly be a mass miscommunication and gap between the mock municipalities that are like Timberline, Cedar Place, Winwood, Beaver Ridge, pick a HOA, they’re all an independent mock municipality, to planning and zoning in Tucker County,” Knight said. “And you guys are the bosses. I feel sorry for you. You’re trying to run the county based on this giant jig saw puzzle, but you’ve got a few pieces missing, mock municipalities.”
One missing piece for the County is the missing Winwood records, Knight said. The missing records were the deciding factor in Knight’s decision to tenure her resignation as President of the Winwood HOA. The resignation letter, Knight said was effective at midnight that day.
Knight said that the Chapter will likely not fix the issues at Winwood, but will help HOA’s across Tucker County and the State in the future.
“Will a startup chapter of CAI fix Winwood? Probably not,” Knight said. “How do you reconstitute that which you do not have?”
Knight, who said she has lived in Winwood since 2005, said she has pushed for a central database for HOA records. Knight said she has wanted digitized records in a central database and she said for a while the HOA was doing a good job of it. Knight said she does not know what happened and has not been given any answers.
Knight asked the Commission to reach out to the State County Commission Association with specific questions about their experiences with HOA’s in their counties. She also requested a work study meeting with the Commission to discuss the results of the questions posed to the other counties.
Easton Addresses HB 2014 to Commission
Parsons Advocate - April 29, 2025 - Lydia Crawley
Local attorney Brent Easton addressed the Tucker County Commission on April 23rd with concerns over the proposed power plant and data centers between Davis and Thomas, as well as House Bill 2014 which is closely tied to the issue. Easton requested the Commissioners contact the Governor’s Office in a bid to influence the Governor to veto the yet unsigned HB 2014. Governor Morrisey had until April 30th to sign the bill into law. However, inaction by the Governor on the bill would still result in HB 2014 becoming law.
“There is still time that he can be influenced to some extent,” Easton said. “He should at least know what position this County (has).”
A petition has been circulated throughout the Tucker County area that has garnered over 1700 signatures. The petition is slated to reach the Governor’s Office April 23rd or 24th, according to Easton.
The most controversial provision in HB 2014 is the taking of any local control when it comes to data centers and the power plants that accompany them. The bill does not allow local counties or municipalities any regulation over the centers or power plants and takes tax revenue from the sites, as well. Only 30% of tax revenue from the sites is allocated back to the County, with the remaining 70% allocated to the State.
“If it was something good, if this was something popular that we were going to like, they wouldn’t have to put that in the bill, a rule that said, you can’t say anything about it once its done,” Easton said. “That’s why that’s in there. They know its going to suck.”
Easton said that the bill was an invitation by the State to data centers and power plants to come to the area.
“They are saying to these data center and power plant people, come on in, do what you want. This is at the State level they are telling them this. We’re going to chop our local people off at the knees and they are not going to have anything to say about it. Horrible,” Easton said.
Easton said HB 2014 was an insult to local entities.
“That’s an insult. The whole thing’s an insult because it says we don’t need your input. We’re going to tell you how to run your backyard. You’re not going to have any say. You’re not going to be able to make any rules and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Easton said.
Easton outlined a recent incident in Pennsylvania County, Virginia where a power plant and data center complex was built. According to Easton when initially proposed, the data center was slated to be 1200 megawatts and feed a couple of data centers. Once approval happened, amendments were applied for and made that ballooned the facility to 3500 megawatts and 12 data centers.
“What if they do what they did in Virginia and they come in and say, your 1200 megawatt facility is now a 3500 and four data centers are now 12 and we see data centers going all the way to Mettiki and past Mettiki,” Easton said.
Easton said that DC lobbyists and politicians are behind the push for the power plant and data centers. Easton also said Tucker County can not trust the Governor and other politicians because they are not from Tucker County and do not have the best interest of the area in mind. The bottom line of the project, Easton said is money.
“He wants to make money with this, there are other politicians that want to make money with this,” Easton said. “That’s why they are precluding you up front from being able to do anything about it.”
Easton asked the Commission to write a letter to the Governor’s Office requesting a veto of the bill while there was still time prior to the Governor’s signature of the measure. Easton said he wanted County Commissions and local governments to show that they they were not being driven by Charleston.
Rosenau said that the County Commission has been in contact with the Governor’s Office and various representatives across Charleston on the matter since the story broke. Rosenau also said that he and the Commission are not happy about HB 2014 and the stripping of local authority it contains.
“I can tell you this, we have,” Rosenau said. “We have talked to the Governor’s Office and to representatives that represent our County. We’re not happy with not having any say in what is going on in our County and all of our area. Our State organization feels the same way throughout the State because we have no say. People elected us to represent them, good and bad.”
Rosenau also said that there is a misconception in the community that the County Commission has not done anything about HB 2014 or the power plant and data centers. According to Rosenau, the Commission has been working diligently behind the scenes. Just the day prior, he said, the Commission toured the proposed site of the power plant and data center. It had been the first time Rosenau had seen the site, he said.
“A lot of people think that the Commission just sat back and did nothing and that’s not the case at all,” Rosenau said. “I don’t tell everything that is going on.”
Easton asked Rosenau what response he has received from Charleston regarding their numerous concerns. Rosenau said that they listened respectfully, but not much else.
“They respectfully listened,” Rosenau said. “I can say that.”
Buckhannon Planning Commission recommends zoning change along South Kanawha Street to encourage commercial growth
The Record Delta - April 21, 2025 - Noah Jeffries
BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WV News) — The Buckhannon Planning Commission held a brief meeting on Monday to discuss zoning changes for certain properties.
The meeting was to discuss the request for the consideration for the zoning change of parcels 3-10-89, 3-10-90, 3-12-186, 3-12-184, 3-12-182, 3-12-182.1 and 3-12-180 situated along South Kanawha Street from R-1 Single Family Residential District to C-2 Highway Commercial District.
The proposed changes would allow for the development of properties along the route, including areas behind the Advanced Auto Parts Store and would incorporate a local church and their parking lot, Building and Zoning Officer Vincent Smith said.
“Advanced Auto is zoned C2 and originally C2 ran about 250 feet along Route 20,” he said. “The proposal we have would take the church in and include the parking lot of the church... Lining it up with the back of that parking lot, that encompasses all but about 75 feet of the property and straight out Morning Drive... All you’re doing is extending that about 122 feet from Route 20. You’re increasing that area and then behind Advanced Auto it goes from 250 up to about 465.”
Property owners will be informed as progress is made, Smith said.
“We already have a list prepared of all of the adjoining property owners,” he said. “If the council decides they want to run this through, then we’ll put out the notifications.”
City Recorder Randy Sanders spoke in favor of the initiative.
“I like the idea that we’re being progressive here,” he said. “I just feel like it’s worthy of presenting to the public.”
The commission unanimously agreed to recommend that City Council move forward with setting a date for a public hearing to discuss the changes.
Local officials still question property tax split, zoning restrictions on data center legislation
Metro News - April 20, 2025 - Brad McElhinny
Local officials continue to express concern about how recently-passed legislation encouraging potentially-lucrative data center development affects tax revenue and the power over regulations affecting communities.
“My apprehensions on HB 2014 remain intact even after the bill passed. I believe Governor Morrisey and the legislature’s intentions were to create a pathway for a new income stream to the state and encourage data center projects to look at West Virginia,” said Morganne Tenney, executive director of the Putnam County Development Authority.
“However, with the county restrictions and taxation language added to the ‘microgrid bill,’ I fear that counties will ultimately shy away from these types of projects.”
On the final evening of the regular session, lawmakers completed approval of one of the governor’s priorities, intended to allow developers, particularly data centers, to harness localized, self-sufficient energy systems.
One focus of discussion during the legislative session was how the bill might affect counties, which rely on the financial support of property taxes. The bill directs associated tax revenue to several funds, including one meant to help West Virginia reduce its personal income tax rates.
The bill was adjusted several times throughout its legislative journey. By the time of its final passage money generated under the terms of the bill was directed at several areas:
50% for a personal income tax reduction fund;
30% to the county or counties where the data center is located;
10% to go to all counties on a per capita basis;
5% to be used for an economic enhancement grant fund; and
5% for an electric credit stabilization and security fund.
Tenney said she was regularly told that there is enough money to go around and that the bill is necessary to land data center projects.
“I disagree with both points,” she said, suggesting a project coming in at $5 billion could have generated $2 million to $3 million in tax revenue for a county commission as well as $3 million to $4 million for schools.
“A lot to a community, but I remain uncertain if the amount would be transformative to the state as a whole. How many massive data centers can we land in the Mountain State?” Tenney said.
She added that the dollar amount takes into consideration “an incredibly competitive data center incentive we have in West Virginia through the High Technology Valuation Act, which taxes servers at 5% salvage value; that to me is already a huge incentive for a project.”
Secondly, Tenney said, there are already data center projects in play around the state even without the bill.
“Yes, there may be some projects that needed the microgrid portion of this bill to move forward, but did they need the taxation and regulation language?” she asked.
“What about the other ‘high impact data center’ projects? What about the counties who have been courting projects for months or years? This wipes their feet out from under them in the 11th hour.”
‘Single biggest economic development bill’
HB 2014 introduces a Certified Microgrid Program and a High Impact Data Center Program for West Virginia, aiming to attract and support these industries.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey and his administration have touted the bill’s focus on data centers, the physical facilities that house computer structures like servers and storage.
Data centers are enormous energy users, and that is only expected to grow as artificial intelligence and other computing innovations gain traction.
They are prolific in states like neighboring Virginia, but they are also controversial among residents because of their aesthetics and noise. They are not major employers but can contribute significantly to local property taxes.
Morrisey, speaking this past week on MetroNews Midday, described passing “the single biggest economic development bill in many, many years.”
he governor said he believes the framework will encourage job growth in related sectors, including construction — as well as steady demand for energy sources produced in West Virginia.
“And so it feeds into the whole system. So you need big economic development, and this is the first thing that’s been done in many, many years, designed to make it very attractive for a new industry to come, because we just haven’t been successful in that area in the past,” Morrisey said.
‘A lack of value the state has on county government’
Greenbrier County Commissioner Tammy Tincher said she appreciates the concerted effort by lawmakers to ensure counties will receive increased amounts of tax revenues from data centers that may be located in their regions — as well as recognition for counties who may not have an opportunity to locate a data center to still benefit financially.
But she said the legislation fell short.
“I believe it is essential to have local governments at the table on these projects and so I am disappointed changes to include any local input for planning and zoning were not included. Economic development provides many opportunities for the citizens of the site county as well as the surrounding counties and the state,” Tincher said.
“However, the local site county also bears the increased responsibility of public safety and other infrastructure to make sure these projects are successful. The allocation while appreciated demonstrates the lack of value the state has on county government and the services it provides to residents and businesses.”
Restrictions on local regulation
The bill says certified microgrid districts and certified high impact data centers may not be subject to county or municipal zoning, horticultural, noise, viewshed, lighting, development, or land use ordinances, restrictions, limitations, or approvals.
The legislation also says the certified developments would not be subject to county or municipal building permitting, inspection or code enforcement.
Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, raised concerns about local control throughout its consideration during the regular session. He sponsored a floor amendment, unsuccessfully, to strike the part of the bill restricting local control.
He raised the points again during an interview last week.
“I’m concerned that these microgrid districts are heavy industrial districts that would include not just data centers, which could be loud or have other impacts, but also power plants; they could include coal or gas or nuclear plants, and they could also include solar ad wind,” Hansen said.
“And I think it’s important if there are local ordinances related to setbacks or noise or traffic or any other types of local issues that that be retained. I don’t think it’s right to just roll over local ordinances and force these large industrial developments in an area, where they may have impacts on residents.”
He added that there are plenty of places in West Virginia that could be appropriate for data centers and microgrids. “The question will those go into those appropriate places or will they go into places where they’re not wanted?” he asked.
Hansen, like local officials, also questioned whether it’s wise or fair for the state to redirect property taxes that otherwise would have gone to local governments.
“To be clear, if that money was not commandeered by the state and then reallocated according to this formula,”Hansen said, “it would go to the local governments because that’s where local property taxes go according to state code.”
He added, “It’s a philosophical question to some extent about whether that’s their money or whether it’s the state’s money to use for the state’s own priorities, but I think you also have to recognize that counties might incur some additional costs if these large developments come in — so there’s a good reason why the additional property taxes should go to the county.”