MORGANTOWN — Morgantown’s 10-acre Richwood redevelopment project cleared an initial hurdle Thursday evening.
The Morgantown Planning commission cast two 6-1 votes, recommending Morgantown City Council’s approval for requests to consolidate the redevelopment area into a single parcel and rezone that 10-acre parcel B-1 (neighborhood business).
The area is currently a mixture of zones, including R-1A (single family residential), R-2 (single and two-family residential) and B-2 (service business).
Commissioner Katie See cast the dissenting vote on both matters.
Much of the evening’s discussion centered around the question of rezoning.
Concerns were raised that B-1 requires no residential use. Structures can be mixed use (business on the ground floor and residential above) or all retail/business but cannot be strictly residential.
Structures in B-1 must be between two and four stories above street level but cannot be more than 40 feet in height.
Erik Carlson, representing the Mon County Development Authority and Morgantown Area Partnership, assured the commission that residential uses are in the plans.
He said the project cannot meet the vision of being a lively, walkable area including unique retail, food and drink options without people. Further, he said the project isn’t economically viable without residential space.
“In talking with our development partner, they say it is very easy to assume and to say that we will have more housing units in this development than currently exist in these 53-plus structures that we have in the area now,” Carlson said. “How many more than that? Time will tell, but that is something that is very important to Mon County Development Authority.”
The problem, See countered, is that there are no guarantees.
“I understand you have the best of intentions. I really appreciate that, but I’ve been burned too many times and seen residents burned too,” she said.
Ultimately, Commissioner Tim Stranko pointed out the commission’s purview is not what the developer might or might not do, but whether the applications before the body are consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan.
During his staff recommendations, Morgantown Development Services Director Rickie Yeager said the requests align with both the current 2013 plan and the 2033 plan likely to be adopted later this month.
“City council has the power here to approve or deny this application. Our role is to see whether it’s consistent with the comprehensive plan, and I think that it clearly is,” Stranko said.
Morgantown Area Partnership CEO Russ Rogerson previously said the city is currently working to use some $700,000 available through the Willey, Spruce, Brockway TIF district to begin razing the 50-some structures spread across the property.
The goal is to begin that process by the end of the year.
