Circuit court sides with county in annexation dispute
Newell says city will appealBy JODY MURPHY
Article Photos
PARKERSBURG -Seeking to minimize the "creation of pockets of the city," a circuit court judge sided with the Wood County Commission in an annexation dispute.
Wood County Circuit Judge J.D. Beane ruled in favor of the Wood County Commission, striking down an appeal by the city of Parkersburg to annex a near-15-acre tract of land of Oakdale Avenue.
"The court finds that the commission's determination that the proposed annexation was not in the best interest of the county as a whole is not arbitrary and is unsupported by a reasonable basis," the ruling concluded.
In May 2007, Don Godfrey, who serves as Parkersburg councilman, requested annexation by the city of a proposed 14.6-acre housing development on Oakdale Avenue, near Pettyville.
City Council approved the annexation request in July, much to the chagrin of several area Oakdale residents.
Unsatisfied with the city, those residents -who also opposed a ruling by the city planning commission - took their complaints to the county commission, which voted against the proposed annexation in July 2007, setting up a legal showdown.
More than a year later, Beane finally issued a ruling.
"I'm pleased with the judge's ruling and not surprised," county commission President Bob Tebay said. "Our main points are what he picked up on."
In the ruling, dated Oct. 6, Beane focused on three issues regarding the annexation: whether the territory is contiguous to existing corporate boundaries; whether affected parties of the territory to be annexed oppose or support the proposed annexation; and whether the proposed annexation is in the best interest of the county as whole.
"The court finds that the commission's determination that the primary tract to be annexed did not meet the definition of "contiguous" ..." the ruling stated. "... the tract of land nearly one mile from the existing corporate boundaries of the city and made contiguous only by additionally annexing a rather lengthy ribbon of existing roadways was not contiguous as the term is defined in the West Virginia code."
Beane also sided with the commission's definition of "affected parties," agreeing the commission was correct in factoring the opposition of the proposed annexation by neighbors of the development.
"The commission was required to consider the support or opposition of the "affected parties" ... The commission, upon consideration of the public comments, essentially found there was substantial opposition by the affected parties and reasonably concluded as supported by the fact that the only support for the annexation came from the persons seeking it."
The ruling also stated "that these types of annexations create confusion, fear and distaste for the county and the city among the citizens of the county."
"It is understandable that a municipality would want to expand (its) boundaries; however those expansions should be reasonable and more importantly contiguous to the current city limits," Commissioner Rick Modesitt stated in a press release.
Godfrey said he plans to move on. He's making applications for the development to the county planning commission. He started building homes more than a year ago and recently began advertising the property.
"I've got a house built, but I can't even sell it," he said.
Mayor Bob Newell said the city will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
"It is a property rights issues, not a county-city issue," he said. "The Supreme Court has decided on these cases before, and we believe this is an issue for them to determine."
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vortex
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10-07-08 10:26 PM
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I see that Pothole Bob is a sore loser. He is going to spend more of the City’s money to take this to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court would happen to agree with him, how many years will it take these 15 acres to generate enough taxes to pay for all of this legal expense? What about Mr. Geoffrey’s statement on the Radio earlier that this rejection was a political thing, the Republicans against the Democrats? I believe that Judge Beane is a Democrat.
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derbeobachter
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10-07-08 9:32 PM
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Finally, I am glad to see that the court system still upholds the rights of the citizens. The great majority did not and does not what this annexation. The only issue is Pothole Bob is not satisfied with Judge Beans decision. Mr. Godfrey in a sound bit lashed out claiming the bad republicans ganged up on him and Pothole. In a year Godfrey has only built one house, I would questions his motives to begin with. He, a city councilman wants to gain finically by the annexation in sales of the homes. The city will now send taxpayers money to fight for him to build houses to make money? He needs to join councilman Knapp on the fast track out of town. Good Job Bob, forget what the people want
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