Published: September 06, 2009 11:15 pm      

Planning efforts struggle against old, new visions in Mineral

KEYSER, W.Va. — Larenim Park just isn’t what it used to be. But with a little help and lots of hard work, it could be.

So says Clyde Burdock, president of the nine-member Mineral County Planning Commission charged with overseeing the construction of an update comprehensive plan that, in some eyes, shapes the future land-use planning for elected officials, county staff and residents alike.

The second draft of the plan is to be made available to the public soon. A first draft is available in Mineral County Planning Director Scott Clay’s office. West Virginia University Extension agent Mike Dougherty, chief consultant for the plan, is working to incorporate Planning Commission members’ comments into a second draft before releasing it to the public. The Planning Commission then is expected to schedule a two-hour public work session, Clay said.

Mineral County is currently in the 13th year of a 10-year plan, Clay said.

“The one issue that caused a great deal of public outcry ... as I understand it, the possibility of limited zoning was suggested in the first comprehensive plan,” Clay said. “It created quite a bit of uproar. There was obviously no public sentiment for any sort of zoning.”

Clay said Dougherty has noted the possibility of “limited zoning” in major commercial corridors along U.S. Route 220 in Keyser south to Walmart and portions of state Route 28 and U.S. Route 50.

“I don’t believe there’s any thought of countywide zoning ... we’ll see when we hit the work session,” Clay said.

But if planners don’t see eye-to-eye — and in Mineral County, Burdock said they don’t — it can make current and future planning efforts quite difficult and confusing.

Planning Commissioner members “can’t get all on the same page,” said Burdock, who helped pass the first comprehensive plan more than a decade ago. “I’ve lived my entire life in West Virginia, and so my view is entirely different from people who have been moving into the county from different places. That’s not a bad thing, but they have entirely different ideas. One group wants strong zoning (and anything) to keep business out or to make it so restrictive they can’t come in.

That’s not Burdock’s position.

“We need business,” Burdock said.

Larenim Park, about two miles north of Burlington, is one example, Burdock said, of the challenges Mineral County is facing. What was once a great park, situated on 365 acres complete with seven acres of stocked fishing water and an amphitheater with seating for up to 600 people.

Instead of a thriving community center, Burdock said, “it’s falling and ruined. There just isn’t enough people to support it. It’s a shame.”

Indeed, state officials project a continued, slow population decline for at least the next 20 years. Burdock says a shrinking tax base places financial strains on schools, government and volunteer fire and ambulance companies who depend on donations to provide services.

“When I grew up and graduated from high school, this was a booming place,” said Burdock. “Elk Garden schools had over 1,000 kids. Band was bigger in 1960 than Keyser High School’s band is now. I could have gone, without a college education, to Celanese, ABL, PPG, Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. ... those are all gone. The jobs that we have are not that high paying.”

Can the area’s economy return to its heyday?

“Easily,” he said. “If we have the right people in government ... you’d be very surprised at how many businesses have been turned away.”

The Keyser High School football team is another example, said the Mineral County Alternative School teacher.

“In 10 to 15 years, will there be enough kids to pick from to even have football? They went from having 64 members of a band three years ago to 30-some now,” Burdock said. “I hate to see it. When I get to see the kids graduating ... when you see them walking across the stage graduating, most of them leave to get a job. They go to college somewhere else and that’s the last we see of them.”

Clay isn’t sure what the finished product will look like but “if we’re going to error, we’ll probably error on the side of freedom, but that’s just my opinion,” he said.

The Planning Commission meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Mineral County Courthouse on Armstrong Street. Call the commission at (304) 788-1457 for more information.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.