October 26, 2006

Dear PAN Members and Neighbors,

You may have heard that PAN (Plateau Action Network) and the NPCA (National Parks and Conservation Association) have filed another appeal concerning Fayette County administrative decisions and the Roaring Rivers development adjacent to the New River Gorge National River.

You may have heard opinions or even read the Beckley, Register Herald (Oct. 24,2006) hyping the story-LAWSUIT FILED SEEKING TO HALT PLANNED DEVELOPMENT claiming that the PAN and NPCA are opposed the development. This is not true  and the Register Herald should be ashamed of itself for printing such a distorted story.

PAN has supported the project from the very beginning. We have also sought to protect the important resources of the New River Gorge.

In the Spring of 2005, PAN helped Land Resources Corporation (LRC) to secure their zoning reclassification.

In August of 2005 Gene Kistler, a PAN board member and a County Planning commission member, made the motion to approve the zoning change and to approve the Planned Residential Development overlay.

In February of 2006 the Zoning Enforcement Officer (ZEO) began to prepare his decision and comments on the plan. There were two important errors: a misinterpretation of county code concerning the viewshed and an unfounded interpretation of state law concerning takings - an important legal issue.  The ZEO was presented with the evidence that he was wrong on these two points. Yet...

In April,2006, the ZEO included these things in his official Opinion and Findings of Facts. We were mystified. PAN, NPCA , West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and National Committee for the New River appealed that decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).

On September 12, 2006, the BZA heard sworn testimony where the ZEO admitted his oversight in interpreting the countys development code. The ZEO also admitted he had no legal counsel and no sound basis for making his opinion about takings.

The BZA decided that the ZEO had properly done his job. The BZAs official findings and explanation give no clue as to how they arrived at this conclusion. We are again, mystified.

October 2006- County Code has clear provisions for appealing the BZA decision. PAN and the NPCA have carefully considered their options. We continue to pursue positive discussions with the County but there are no assurances and the deadline to appeal has arrived.

Land Resources Corporation, the parent company of the Roaring Rivers development has threatened to sue PAN and the board members for tortuous interference for making this appeal.  We hope they dont. We think such action would go badly for everyone- PAN, LRC and the county. To prevail, they would have to prove that PAN has abused the public process, and the public record is clear that PAN has acted in good faith for the betterment of the community. As such, it appears their intent is to intimidate PAN into withdrawing from the public process.

So, while the initial issue was how to protect the viewshed of the New River Gorge, the actions of County officials have created the issue of accountability to uphold state laws and county code and now LRC has injected the issue of our/your right to participate in the public process which is protected by the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution. This is not where we wanted to be, but here we are. What do you think?

PAN's mission statement is to promote responsible economic development and sustainable environmental management. PAN initiated the effort to raise awareness, secure the engineering company and secure the funding for Fayette Countys $400,000 sewage infrastructure plan. PAN is well respected by State and federal agencies for being a positive, productive organization. PAN is a member of the Fayette County Transition Team. PAN received the first Congressman, Nick Rahall Environmental Stewardship Award for its positive collaborative efforts to clean up Wolf Creek- the source of Fayettevilles drinking water. PAN supported, and many PAN members turned out to help build Play-it-ville. PAN has given scholarships and participated in the Leadership Fayette County program. We have brought educational and entertaining environmental programming to Fayette county schools. PAN has demonstrated its commitment to improving the quality of life in our community.

Our participation in the Roaring Rivers rezoning and plat approval process has been forthright and positive. We would like to see a quality housing development take place here because, done properly, it will help protect the park, it will be an economic boon to the area and, in turn, our school system will benefit from the property taxes.

We have been working with the County and NPCA to produce a comprehensive resolution, to address these issues.

*        We seek: acknowledgement that the UDC, as it is, does allow for consideration of exceptional, scenic views.

*         We seek acknowledgement that modifying a plan does not constitute a taking.

*         We seek acknowledgement that public administrators may not be capricious in their decisions and that they are obligated to render accurate findings of fact and reasoned explanation of the decisions reached.

*         We seek to clean up the county codes, bring them into compliance with state code, clarify and objectify the UDC viewshed language

County Commissioners office 304- 574-4290 Leave a message and get information.