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PARKERSBURG -- The Wood County Commission will hold a hearing Monday to determine if it should rescind a decision made recently to grant a variance for a property owner outside Williamstown to operate a video lottery establishment.
The commission has scheduled the matter for 9:30 a.m. Monday, March 8.
County officials took additional questions Thursday from a couple of residents who appeared before the commission earlier this week and also conferred with Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure and Wood County Compliance Officer Sarah Robinson on the matter.
Last month, the commission voted 2-1 to grant a variance to Hi-Lad Inc. of Charleston for property along Waverly Road to establish a video lottery business with Commissioners Jimmy Colombo and Robert Tebay voting in favor and Commission President Blair Couch voting against.
The property is owned by Hi-Lad Inc. The company is planning to move video lottery machines from a location in Charleston to the location outside of Williamstown. Local attorney George J. Cosenza, representing the company's president Greg Hicks, recently appeared before the commission to describe the project and seek the variance.
A group of four residents who appeared before the commission this week cited safety, economic and other concerns as to why the variance needs to be reconsidered. Williamstown already had a number of these establishments and the area didn't need any more, they added.
In conferring with Robinson, Lefebure said there are soccer fields near the proposed site used by area youth as well as additional residences that would be within the 1,000-foot limit for such an establishment.
The soccer fields are utilized by the Williamstown High School and Jr. High soccer teams. However, it is not specifically owned by the schools, but they use it. Lefebure said he is not sure if that would cause the state to ultimately reject the variance or not.
"Those fields are within the 1,000 feet," he said, adding the measurement is actually around 900 feet.
Robinson added that the property owner could move the building site on the property and get the building out of the 1,000-foot limit.
Lefebure said that based on the new information, the commission could reconsider.
"Either way the commission goes we are open to possible liability either way," he said.
Couch said they need to contact Cosenza to make sure he can attend. He suggested that Hicks could appear as well, if he chooses, to discuss the matter and how he plans to operate the establishment. Lefebure said he would contact Cosenza.
Officials have said that although the county initially granted the variance, the state could still reject it if they feel it doesn't meet the necessary requirements.
The project was initially rejected, based on the county's ordinance, which led to Hi-Lad Inc. seeking the variance from the commission.
Couch said over the last several years the commission has granted a number of such variances that the state approved as well. However, there have been some approved by the county but ultimately rejected by the state.
The state has deemed these businesses are legal to operate and that is why they are regulated and the commission and the state have to deal with these kinds of requests.
"The state's regulations supersede ours," Couch said.
In other business, Vienna Mayor Randy Rapp appeared before the commission for officials to sign off on the city's new emergency plan. Rapp said nothing had really changed, but every time they get new council members they have to sign off on the plan which in turn needs the commissioners' signatures as well.
The new stores at the Grand Central Mall, built on the former Sears site, will have a series of grand openings March 11, 13 and 20 with the fourth store opening soon after that. Rapp did not say which specific stores would be opening when. Previous reports said HomeGoods, PetSmart, Ross Dress for Less and T.J. Maxx would be opening locations on the site.
Wood County Clerk Mark Rhodes talked about an election bill before the state legislature, House Bill 2814, the Election Security, Access, and Modernization Act of 2021, which was introduced Tuesday in the House of Delegates.
Under the bill, Rhodes said all registered voters would be sent an absentee ballot application; the county would have to have six drop boxes throughout the county, one for every 10,000 voters; early voting would be extended and have all county early voting locations open for that entire time.
Rhodes said one of the questions he was asked is if the county would cut down on the number of voting precincts if more people would utilize the early voting sites. The commission has talked in the past about having a series of a dozen or so voting centers that would house multiple precincts.
The bill was referred to the Judiciary and Finance committees.
Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com