Apr 19, 2019 3 min read

Committee members met Tuesday to discuss the direction of Franklin Township’s new comprehensive plan.

The steering committee, made up of the township’s planning commission, zoning hearing board, residents and business owners, gathered a laundry list of topics for consideration during an open house last week. On Tuesday, they categorized that list to four major issues they’d like addressed in the plan – infrastructure and utilities, retail business attraction, housing, and a transportation network, including the Route 21 corridor.

“It’s a matter of how we prioritize the needs and work toward things we can accomplish,” township Supervisor Corbly Orndorff said.

The township’s comprehensive plan hasn’t been updated in 30 years. The supervisors began the process early this year by hiring Dennis Martinak, a certified planner who owns a planning and consulting company.

Martinak provided the committee with a summary of public feedback from the open house. People left comments for the committee on surveys, charts and postcards. He said more than 70 people attended the open house, and about 50 of them were township residents.

The comments relating to the township’s vision for the future largely focused on keeping young families from moving away and growing the middle class. People said they wanted to see an increase in population, retail businesses, recreational activities, jobs and housing.

They also called for a stronger infrastructure, with faster internet, road improvements and extended public water and sewerage services. Other issues people suggested the committee address were high taxes, blight and traffic flow.

“A lot of this stuff they’ve heard before,” Martinak said.

The committee also asked the public to map out the township’s assets. People listed developable land at the Greene County Airport as being an opportunity, as well as the natural gas industry, the Interstate 79 exit, Evergreene Technology Park, and the new West Virginia University Medicine clinic near Walmart.

Martinak said he will be conducting stakeholder interviews on behalf of the committee. In the next few weeks, he’ll reach out to property owners, business owners and community leaders to gather information and feedback for the plan.

He’ll then conduct a focus group meeting with business owners to talk about what brought them to Franklin Township and what “potential improvements could be made,” he said.

“This is to try to help the township identify areas they could improve and attract additional businesses, as well,” Martinak said.

The next committee meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 20, and the next public open house is scheduled for June 24.