Apr 11, 2019 4 min read

Franklin Township residents provided input on their hopes for the township’s future during the first open house Wednesday evening to discuss the new comprehensive plan.

It’s been 30 years since the township updated its comprehensive plan. The supervisors decided in January it was time to start working on one.

“The old plan we’ve met and exceeded tremendously,” said Steven Coss, the township’s zoning and code enforcement officer. “We want to update it and try to project into the future of the township. We want to get some public input on how they’d like the township to be over the next 10 years.”

The township hired Mackin Engineering Co. to help them with the planning process. They’ve also established a comprehensive plan steering committee, made up of the township’s planning commission, zoning hearing board and other individuals such as business owners or property owners “with an interest in making this community grow,” Coss said.

The open house, from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, was held at the township municipal building, 568 Rolling Meadows Road.

“One of our hopes is just to reach out to members of the community to get some of their ideas,” township Supervisor Corbly Orndorff said before the meeting Wednesday. “I want the public to come to us and give us honest feedback.”

Orndorff said that as part of the planning process, they want to look at updating land-use ordinances and maps, since the township is running out of commercially zoned land that’s able to be developed.

He said having an updated comprehensive plan will also be useful when applying for grants for things such as infrastructure development. He said those projects can become too expensive for the township to take on without grant funding.

“You can always have infrastructure development, and we’re trying to identify the areas in which you would get the most potential for your investment,” he said.

Coss said he’d like to see the township’s water and sewer lines expanded to “pretty much every resident” they can reach.

“We’re not advanced out away from the main part of the township very far,” he said about the lines.

Gary Bowers, a member of the comprehensive plan committee, said infrastructure will be an essential part of the plan.

“You can’t have fun things to do if you don’t have infrastructure to support it,” he said.

Bowers owns Kari Resources, the development company behind the new Sheetz on Route 21 and the new WVU Medicine center on Murtha Drive.

“As local Greene County residents, do we really want to drive to Washington or Monongalia counties to support long-term viability of the next generation? No, we don’t,” Bowers said Wednesday. “We need to keep that taxation here.”

Both Coss and Orndorff said that keeping young people in the area is a big part of the comprehensive plan. Coss said any type of job growth will help.

“We lost a lot of jobs with the coal mine when they closed down,” he said. “In order to keep people or bring people back here, we need businesses with jobs that would support a family.”

Orndorff also said the township would benefit from more recreation opportunities.

“I think we’ve identified that we’re lacking somewhat in recreation in comparison to neighboring communities,” he said.

He said that while the new EQT Recreation Center has exceeded expectations with how many people it attracts on a daily basis, “one facility can’t handle it all.”

“It’s not just about business opportunities, but quality of life,” Orndorff said.

Bowers said there’s no “short list” of things to look into during the planning process, but they are focused on a “unified effort” to come up with specific goals essential to their success.

“The primary goal is to hear the public on what their desires are,” he said.

Once they gather those comments from the community, he hopes the committee can draft a proposed plan and “get some things in motion.”

“I think the community is genuinely excited and desiring change, but there has to be action,” Bowers said. “You have to have accountability.”

Coss said he believes the township could have the plan completed and to the public by the end of the year, “as long as everybody has an open mind.”

“You have to accept the change that’s going to happen in order to advance,” he said.