The Beckley City Council will be asked to hold a public vote on an ordinance that would transfer approximately 131 acres of the Pinecrest Business and Technology Park site to the Raleigh County Commission for development.
The vote is scheduled for the Beckley City Council meeting on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers of Beckley City Hall.
The ordinance to transfer the property to the county was thought to be dead after no motion to advance the ordinance to a vote was made at the last Beckley City Council meeting on Sept. 24.
Beckley City Attorney Bill Files said that’s not the case.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, File said the council will essentially pick up where it left off from its last meeting.
During the Sept. 24 meeting, a second reading of the ordinance transferring Pinecrest to Raleigh County was held and a public hearing was held.
File said the next step in the process is to have the council table a motion to approve the ordinance. Once the motion is tabled a second time, the council can debate and ask questions about the ordinance.
“You may be aware that at the last board meeting, there was no discussion at the board because no motions were filed,” File said. “Once a motion is made and a second motion is made, the council has an opportunity to freely debate the ordinance.”
The city council will discuss the proposed ordinance and then vote on it.
Because the ordinance’s public hearing took place at the Sept. 24 City Council meeting, File said there will be no public comment on the Pinecrest Property Transfer Ordinance before Tuesday’s City Council vote.
Except for public hearings held during the second reading of an ordinance, the public comment portion of a council meeting is always the last item on the council’s agenda immediately before adjournment.
Beckley City Councilman Cody Reedy said he plans to vote in favor of the ordinance after learning that the county has reached a compromise with opponents of the ordinance.
The Pinecrest Business Park facility is located next to Beckley Stratton Middle School and Beckley Elementary School. Teachers at the school expressed safety concerns about having businesses near the school.
Teachers also opposed the development, fearing the loss of green space on the site that they used for classes.
The Pinecrest property is also home to a cross country course built by Woodrow Wilson High School cross country coach George Barbera.
Although Raleigh County Schools does not own the land on which the cross-country course was built, Barbera had verbal permission from the previous landowner to use the land as long as no development occurred.
Barbera has been one of the most vocal opponents of transferring Pinecrest to the Raleigh County Commission, saying it would mean losing the course.
To allay those concerns, the county agreed to build a second access road to the school to ease traffic and introduce green space into the business park design, Reedy said.
As for the cross country course, Reedy said he has heard that the county has set up a second area on the Pinecrest property to relocate the cross country course.
“We needed to think about the future and what this business park could produce,” Reedy said. “I think the county and (Raleigh County) Attorney Bill Roop have been very generous in supporting the teachers and giving Mr. Beckley-Stratton what they wanted. We offered another cross-country course on the same property. But he doesn’t seem to want to compromise at all. So I think that’s the only resistance for now.”
Roop confirmed to the Register-Herald on Friday that the county had agreed to these compromises, but that the county had agreed to a deal with teachers in early September before the property transfer ordinance was submitted to the Legislature for first reading. He added that Barbera had been informed of the proposal.
Beckley City Councilwoman Sherry Hunter said she continues to oppose transferring the Pinecrest property to Raleigh County unless the cross-country course can be preserved in its current form.
“My stance hasn’t changed,” Hunter said. “We don’t want to see one of West Virginia’s most unique courses undermined by economic development. We hope we can avoid all that. There’s been tremendous interest from students and the community…this I think it’s a big problem.”I’m cautiously optimistic that over time we’ll find a solution because it’s beneficial for the city.” ”
Hunter is another cousin of Barbera. Hunter’s father and Barbera’s grandfather are brothers. The Register-Herald asked Hunter whether his family relationship with Barbera constituted a conflict of interest regarding the Pinecrest measure’s vote on the City Council.
Hunter said she would think the same way even if she and Barbera didn’t have the same last name.
Hunter previously tried to transfer Pinecrest’s 30-acre cross-country course to Raleigh County Schools, but the council rejected that motion.
County officials have previously said they want all of Pinecrest and would not accept the land otherwise.
Currently, cross-country courses occupy one-third of Pinecrest’s developable land. Of the approximately 131-acre property, only approximately 88 acres are developable, with the remainder consisting of wetlands and hillsides.
The council’s actions will be closely monitored by members of the Pinecrest Development Corporation, who are preparing to sue if the transfer does not take place.
“I understand that Pinecrest is back on the table, and I hope they do the right thing,” said Bill Baker, vice president of the Pinecrest Development Corporation. “Litigation is the last thing we’re interested in.”
Baker said in a statement Thursday that the purpose of the lawsuit is to enforce the agreement the city signed when the property was turned over to the city from the Pinecrest Development Corporation in 2022.
According to the agreement, the city agreed to “expand infrastructure within the park and sell real estate within the park for business development and job creation.”
“The State of West Virginia and the Pinecrest Development Corporation have invested several assets and time to develop this property as a business and technology park,” Baker said in a statement Thursday. “That has been our mission since the early 1990s, and when the City of Beckley transferred the property, it was intended to continue as a business park. We feel we have an obligation to ensure the state’s wishes are met.”We are honored to be the first to convey the land to Pinecrest Development Corporation. ”
Baker said he was led to believe at the time of the property transfer that the city would use federal coronavirus relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for Pinecrest’s infrastructure.
However, two years later, when the city began building infrastructure in Pinecrest in earnest, spurred by the threat of a lawsuit from the Pinecrest Development Corporation, it became clear that the city had exhausted all of its ARPA funds. .
The lack of funding is why the city attempted to enact an ordinance to transfer the Pinecrest property to the county, even though approximately $4 million in ARPA funds remained.
The ordinance was held up during the last City Council meeting when councilors were upset by dozens of people who opposed the transfer of Pinecrest property.
Opponents of the transfer of Pinecrest’s property were led by Barbera.
The area the course would occupy was slated to be the first area to be developed in Pinecrest, according to plans previously presented to the City Council by engineering firm Thrasher Group.
Following these preliminary plans from Thrasher, the City Council approved the sale of two acres near Cross Country to Match Point LLC, owned by Beckley nephrologist Dr. Divya Rajan, for $75,000 per acre. did.
This decision was made in June during the last parliament.
