Vienna City Councilman Christopher Mancuso speaks to the Wood County Commission during a hearing Monday on the county’s new Comprehensive Plan. In the background are County Clerk Joe Gonzalez and Prosecutor Pat Lefebure. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

PARKERSBURG — A new comprehensive plan for Wood County complements a development goal of Parkersburg, a city official told the Wood County Commission.

The commission held a public hearing Monday on the proposed Wood County Comprehensive Plan, a blueprint of future trends, objectives and goals. The plan was unanimously approved by Commissioners Blair Couch, Jimmy Colombo and Bob Tebay.

It identifies potential growth areas: south of Parkersburg in Mineral Wells, Davisville, the area around West Virginia University at Parkersburg, sites including Polymer Technology Park, Big Tygart Farms South and Sir Maxwell Development and buildings including PACTIV; west of Parkersburg in the Blennerhassett, Washington and Lubeck areas, sites near Chemours and Harris Highway and buildings including 831 Marrtown Road; and between Vienna and Williamstown in Boaz, the airport, Emerson Commons and buildings on Williams Highway and Emerson Avenue.

“Your future land-use plan meshes well with ours,” Connor LaVelle, municipal planner for the city of Parkersburg, said.

The city of Parkersburg has projected its future growth will be south toward Pettyville, according to LaVelle. The city’s Comprehensive Plan was adopted in December 2020.

“That’s been a useful document for us,” he said.

LaVelle plans to go before the commission next week to discuss an annexation south of Parkersburg. The 11.6 acre parcel is on West Virginia 14 across Bosley Industrial Park Drive near Walmart.

A service station and other retail development is possible on the property, according to the application for annexation by RCDI, the owner of the land. The territory is expected to be zoned B-2 upon annexation, LaVelle said.

The comprehensive plan is based on existing evaluations of land use, transportation, housing, natural and cultural resources and community services and projects the trends in the future. The county plan was developed by Michael Dougherty, a WVU Extension specialist in community resources and economic development, with the Wood County Planning Commission and other groups.

Concerns cited by Vienna City Councilman Christopher Mancuso, an architect, were the age of the public survey during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and the number of people in the survey. The responses may not be relevant today, he said.

The plan was to conduct public hearings, but those changed with the pandemic and the restrictions against public gatherings, according to the comprehensive plan.

A survey, which was online, logged 317 responses with between 305 and 310 completing most of the questions. Respondents represented only .3% of the county’s population, Mancuso said.

“We can do a little bit better getting community involvement,” he said.

A lack of community participation is not unusual, Colombo said. Colombo, a former mayor of Parkersburg, said he would ask residents attending a meeting who lived in the city and most were not.

It’s difficult to get community participation, Colombo said.

“I think you’ll find that’s very common,” Eric Gumm, vice president of the Parkersburg Municipal Planning Commission, said. “You can’t make people participate.”

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com