Dr. Christine Wimer (right), president of Jefferson County Foundation, with attorneys J.P. Burleigh (left) of Suder LLC and Andrew Earley (center) of Fair Shake Environmental Legal Service outside of the Jefferson County Courthouse.
The special meeting of the Jefferson County Planning Commission that was scheduled for Tuesday, December 17 has been cancelled. The principal agenda item for this meeting was a public workshop to review a revised concept plan for a water bottling facility in Middleway.
On December 11, the Jefferson County Foundation and William Hewitt (a local landowner) filed a complaint in Circuit Court (case CC-19-2024-C-259) asking the Court to issue a preliminary injunction against the Jefferson County Planning Commission to prevent it from holding an illegal meeting on December 17 and to also direct the Commission to reschedule the public workshop on a date that would allow for the full 45 days of review as specified in the Jefferson County Subdivision Ordinance (division 24.119).
Circuit Court Judge Hammer scheduled a hearing for the case on Monday, December 16 and after hearing arguments from the attorneys for the plaintiffs (Jefferson County Foundation and Mr. Hewitt) and the respondent (the Planning Commission), the judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs to grant the preliminary injunction. The rescheduled date for the Planning Commission public workshop is February 11, at 7:00 pm.
During the hour-long hearing, the Judge’s questions focused on the issue of due process, specifically whether the December 17 meeting date unfairly disadvantaged the public’s ability to review and provide informed comment. The revised concept plan for this project was received by the Planning Commission office on November 15, so the December 17 date for the public workshop did not allow for the 45 day review period specified in the county ordinance.
The Planning Commission’s counsel, Nathan Cochran, argued that the 45 day period specified in the ordinance is intended to protect the staff and the project applicant. In his ruling from the bench to grant the preliminary injunction, Judge Hammer rejected this claim, noting specifically that other agencies and the public have the same rights to comment and that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their claims of due process violation by the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission’s counsel also informed the Court that the applicant had not sent notices about the revised concept plan to the WV Department of Highways or the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission to request their comment, a procedure that is also specified in the County ordinance. In addition to granting the preliminary injunction to reschedule the meeting, the Judge ordered the applicant to send these notices as well.
After the court hearing, Dr. Wimer shared a statement: “The Foundation is thankful to Mr. Hewitt for his courage in defending his due process rights. We are grateful for Judge Hammer’s finding that the public has a right to a meaningful opportunity to be heard. As Judge Hammer noted in his rulling, without time to properly evaluate the information, an opportunity to engage cannot be meaningful even if the public is allowed to speak. Now we must show our gratitude by continuing to work hard to evaluate and seek clarity on the information in the concept plan so we may engage on February 11 to protect the natural resources, our neighbors, and our way of life.”
The current documents filed by the project applicant are posted on the Planning Commission Concept Plan web page.
Originally published 2024 Dec 16; updated 2024 Dec 17 to include statement from Jefferson County Foundation.
By Steve Pearson