Parkersburg resident Dan Vaught makes his case for having his house removed from the city limits during a meeting of the Municipal Planning Commission on Friday. The commission rejected the petition 7-0. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — The Municipal Planning Commission on Friday rejected an application from a man asking to have his family home removed from Parkersburg’s city limits.

But Dan Vaught said he plans to keep pushing for the change, arguing the property never should have been in the city.

In his application to the commission, Vaught said the annexation was “done against the owners’ will.”

City officials dispute that, saying 2010 Vaught Terrace was part of the annexation of south Parkersburg approved by voters in 1950. Vaught maintains it didn’t happen until around 1980, when another resident had his property annexed into the city.

“My parents really were unhappy when that happened,” he said. “They were never told about it until after it was done.”

Parkersburg Municipal Planning Commission President Charlie Matthews, left, consults with City Planner Connor LaVelle during a meeting Friday in City Council chambers. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

City Planner Connor LaVelle said there were no formal complaints on record. He also noted that Vaught’s late parents regularly paid their city fees.

“My parents paid whatever bills came in because that’s the kind of people they were,” Vaught said.

LaVelle said Vaught is delinquent on city fees and has told the Finance Department it’s because “there is a boundary dispute.”

“As long as the property is in the city, fees will be assessed,” LaVelle said.

Vaught told commission members that he receives no benefit from being in the city, other than trash service, and he could use a break on the fees because he is on a fixed income.

Parkersburg resident Dan Vaught makes his case for having his house removed from the city limits during a meeting of the Municipal Planning Commission on Friday. The commission rejected the petition 7-0. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Commission member John Reed said Vaught would actually be saving money by remaining in the city because “the county fire fee would be higher than the city fire fee.”

In his application, Vaught noted the lack of a fire hydrant on his road. Fire Chief Jason Matthews said in a memo on the application that fire trucks have water tanks on them and a hydrant on South Lake Drive could provide water in the event that more is needed. A hydrant will be added nearby on Newberry Drive as part of an upcoming water project, he said.

Vaught said he thought the process would be a formality and he had not brought documentation supporting his claims. Assistant City Attorney Rob Tebay asked him to produce it if he could.

The commission voted 7-0, with four members absent, to reject the petition. Tebay told Vaught that would be the end of the matter unless he could get three Parkersburg City Council members to sponsor the item on their agenda.

After the meeting, Vaught said he would work on that and also retain counsel to assist him.

Commission member Luke Peters said he voted against the petition because there was no evidence the property wasn’t annexed legally.

“Even the people that voted against it (in 1950) were still in,” he said.

Tebay said this was the first petition to be removed from the city limits he could recall in his nearly 30 years working for the city.

“We’ve had plenty of annexations, and in that same neighborhood,” he said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com