“There’s an eight foot , four foot wide, four foot deep french drain on your property. You think you might have noticed there’s a water issue,” Wilkes said
By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Davis resident John Wilkes addressed the Davis Town Council during the Council’s regular October 9th meeting regarding a subdivision of property on 8th Street. Wilkes had previously written a letter to the Town addressing the issue and attended the meeting for an update on the situation. “I just bring it to your attention that there are issues with regards to development that I am just wondering if you’ve already addressed them?” Wilkes said. “If you’ve had legal counsel tell you what you can and can’t do and what is required to resubdivide.”
Wilkes concern stemmed from the subdividing of property in the vicinity in which his family has property. “In our particular situation, someone has tried to resubdivide property on which our structure sits,” Wilkes said.
Wilkes stated that several issues with the subdividing were raised including West Virginia State Code, as well as City Ordinances for set backs. Wilkes also said that the property also brought up issues with water run off and water and sewer concerns as well with the subdivision. “It must also address certain issues with regards to not only water runoff, but water and sewer,” Wilkes said.
Wilkes said he felt that the town would benefit from stricter control of property division and management. “I’m just wondering if you have not done it, can you do it?” Wilkes said. “Because I think its for your own benefit as a town to know what you need to do to be effective to control the development that occurs in the town.”
Davis Mayor Al Tomson said that the Town had not had legal on the issue of subdivision of property, but planned to have the matter addressed in the future. “We will get legal counsel on the subdividing of lots,” Tomson said. “We have not yet.”
Wilkes said during the meeting that a prospective sale of the subdivided lot had fallen through. According to Wilkes, the sale fell through over a water and drainage issue on the property that had not been disclosed. “There’s an eight foot , four foot wide, four foot deep french drain on your property,” Wilkes said. “You think you might have noticed there’s a water issue.”
According to Tomson, the closest to subdivision that the Town had previously addressed was included in the proposed zoning ordinance that was rejected by vote earlier in the year. In the ordinance, lot size was addressed and outlined how large lots could be in a subdivide. “But that didn’t pass,” Tomson said. “So we still don’t have anything.”
Wilkes said he had been in touch with both Tucker County and Town official and it appears that there was never official approval for the subdivision of the lot. Wilkes said the County advised him that there was no County approval on the matter and Tomson said that the Town Planning Commission did not approve the matter. “No one’s approved it,” Wilkes said.
In the end, Tomson agreed to let the Town’s legal counsel look at the matter. “We’ll check with our attorney and get something going,” Tomson said.
