MORGANTOWN – Less than a week after a quorum of the Morgantown Board of Zoning Appeals voted 2-1 to deny a conditional use for a recovery home in the former sorority house at 1493 University Ave., the volunteer board was the subject of public rebuke from within Morgantown City Council.
Speaking at the end of Tuesday’s regular meeting, Councilor Brian Butcher said the responsibilities taken on by some of the city’s boards and commissions have legal implications for the city.
The BZA, he added, is one of those boards.
He said the conduct of the city’s board of zoning appeals has been “disappointing” for “quite some time,” adding, “I wanted to state that publicly because I think the situation is getting out of hand as far as that board goes. And I think it puts our city at risk.”
Asked to elaborate, Butcher later told The Dominion Post that his concern isn’t about whether he personally agrees or disagrees with the BZA’s specific decisions, but whether those decisions can be supported upon judicial appeal.
“The board is appointed to make these rulings. And I think it’s actually healthy if sometimes we disagree, even as a whole on council. They shouldn’t be yes-men for us. That’s not why they’re established,” he said. “But it’s much more about how they’re arriving at these rulings. And it’s been a problem that I’ve seen for several months now. The way they conduct their meetings, I think, is unprofessional.”
In terms of the case noted above, which packed the Morgantown City Hall meeting chamber and drew opposition from WVU and the neighboring St. John University Parish — both of which have stated an interested in purchasing the property — Butcher said it was frustrating to watch city staff repeatedly explain what is required of the board’s deliberation process.
Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble said she appreciates everyone willing to serve the city in a volunteer capacity and wants to make sure they have the proper training and resources needed to do the job well.
That said, she does share many of Butcher’s concerns.
Trumble noted that BZA members cannot serve the city in any other capacity because of the semi-judicial nature of their responsibility.
“Over the past several months, there have been times where they were considering a variance, a conditional use approval, or a request for reasonable accommodations where it seemed to me that a lot of the public comment and board discussion has revolved around issues that really aren’t within the purview of that board and should not impact a decision made by the board,” Trumble said. “Because any of these decisions made by this board are able to be appealed to the circuit court. Then it becomes the city attorney’s job to kind of defend that decision.”
Morgantown City Council recently adopted an administrative process through which requests for reasonable accommodation through the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act are received and vetted by city staff instead of the board of zoning appeals.
That change came after two such requests were presented to the BZA for variance relief tied to parking at a pair of West Virginia Sober Living properties.
“We removed that from the purview of the BZA,” Trumble said.
While it’s not common to hear a volunteer board or commission get called out publicly by members of council, Trumble pointed out that it has been done before. She recalled examples specific to the Civilian Police Review and Advisory Board and the Morgantown Utility Board.
“Those boards and commissions serve at the will of council, and there have certainly been times in the past where we’ve had to bring members of boards and commissions in. Sometimes they’ve met with city staff for additional training. Sometimes they’ve met with city council for a refresher on city priorities and things like that,” she said. “At the end of the day, we need to make sure the city is protected from future legal action.”
