W.Va. Code Allows an Unsightly Site: Riverview Rubble OK By State
By Cassie Shaner, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Feb. 22–MORGANTOWN CITY COUNCIL
meets as a committee of the whole at 7 p.m. Tuesday, in City Council chambers, Morgantown Municipal Building, 389 Spruce St.
The city of Morgantown has no authority to require cleanup at the proposed site of the Riverview Center on Chestnut, Chief Code Enforcement Officer Mike Stone said Thursday.
State-adopted International Code Council building rules — which every city in West Virginia is required to follow — do not include provisions for the cleanliness of a construction site, he said.
“That’s the problem,” Stone said. “I’ve been getting several complaints on it.”
Neighboring property owner John Cognac, of Premier Auto, said the property is an eyesore.
“All I know is that if I had done something like that on this lot, I would have a fine for every day it was like that,” he said. “I just don’t understand.”
Though the city can’t force the company to do so, Stone said he contacted Jason Lentz, vice president of multifamily for Texasbased Stonehill-PRM Realty, in late January, to ask if the company would consider cleaning up the property.
The fenced-in lot holds piles of gravel and broken-up concrete that have remained untouched since Nov. 26, when the city granted a 180-day extension for an excavation and grading permit for the property.
In a reply e-mail, Lentz said he would discuss the idea with his partners. But Lentz said Thursday that the company is still seeking a development partner to take over the Riverview project and has no immediate plans to clean up the site.
“We’ll wait until we have a little more clarity on who we’re moving forward with before we make a decision on that,” Lentz said.
Riverview Center on Chestnut was originally proposed as a 19-story residential building downtown aimed at students, but developers scaled back the project to 12 stories, after complaints from city residents halted the project. The city Planning Commission approved the 12-story structure in June.
The grading permit extension let the project move forward without going back through the city’s planning process. If the permit had expired, the project would have had to meet new, stricter zoning standards, which, among other things, would have required the development to provide parking for its residents.
Last month, The Dominion Post obtained a series of e-mails sent between Oct. 17 and Nov. 15 in which Lentz repeatedly questioned how much work had to be completed to obtain the permit extension.
“Once we put up the fence, and do some earth work, the permit is then extended for the full 180 days, correct?” Lentz asks in an e-mail dated Nov. 8. “The [work] does not necessarily have to remain constant each day.”
Morgantown City Councilman Jim Manilla said Thursday that Stonehill-PRM clearly had no intention of moving forward with the project. He called the site “pretty disgusting to look at.”
“It’s so obvious what they did,” Manilla said. “They had to move some dirt around and that’s what they did.”
Under the code, Stone said Stonehill-PRM was required to put forth “a good-faith effort” to be granted a permit extension. He specifically asked the company to do three things: get rid of a parking lot at the site, put up a construction fence and move a “considerable” amount of dirt.
Stonehill-PRM satisfied those conditions, but Stone said it won’t be so easy to get another extension when the permit expires, in May.
“This time, it’s a little bit more involved than it was the first time,” Stone said. “This time, for the permit, they really have to have a lot of work done.”
Stonehill-PRM does have the option to submit a letter to the city explaining why a sufficient amount of work hasn’t been completed.
“That excuse, or whatever you want to call it, would have to be approved by the city manager” to keep the project alive, Stone said.
City Manager Dan Boroff did not return a call for comment from The Dominion Post on Thursday afternoon.
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