By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Representatives from Western Pocahontas addressed a packed house at the Town of Davis Council Meeting October 23rd. Members of the public packed Davis Town Hall to listen to the future expansion plans of Western Pocahontas. Representatives VP and Project Manager Rich Flanagan and Master Land Planner from Planned Environments Roy Bechtol addressed the crowd on behalf of Western Pocahontas.
Flanagan said the group has been working with Blackwater PSD and RK& K to help design the needs of the new sewer project. “We don’t want to work in a vacuum,” Flanagan said. “So we have been working with the Blackwater PSD and RK& K to provide them input for future growth and future development that we see coming along the area to help some of the current housing issues and help alleviate that in the future.”
Acccording to Flanagan what was shared was only a preliminary plan and of a long term nature that may take 50 to 100 years to see complete. “What we are sharing with you is A plan,” Flanagan said. “It is not THE plan. This plan is entitled to be a 50 to 100 year plan. Its not going to happen tomorrow. Its not going to happen next year. Its an evolution,” Flanagan said. “We have to have a plan so we are moving in the right direction so that things just aren’t happening haphazardly.”
The project is slated to encompass 18,000 acres in Tucker County alone. “This is about 18,000 acres we are presenting in front of you,” Bechtol said. “Its all within Tucker County.”
5,100 acres of the 18,000 acres are designed to be green space, according to Bechtol. “The first thing we did was a total environmental analysis,” Bechtol said. “We took two, almost three years, to analyze all the wetlands, the streams, the environmental features, the geological, the archaeological sites, so on and so forth. So what you see in this plan interwoven through the whole plan is green.”
Bechtol said that the project is aware of the need to respect the culture of the community. “We’re trying to be sensitive to the native elements and yet create a plan that will be an exciting and wonderful place to live and that will respect the culture of the community,” Bechtol said.
Bechtol said the plan is a starting place. “We understand it is a lot to absorb,” Bechtol said. “But you got to start somewhere. You got to try to put what you have in the right place so it honors the land, it respects the slopes, it respects all the greenbelts.”
81miles of trails are designed to encompass the property. “I think one of the most important parts is the trail networks and greenbelts,” Bechtol said. “We have a connectivity of trails throughout the entire project.”
Bechtol said their organization is trying not to let the community down. “One of the things we have tried to do, too, as a neighbor,” Bechtol said. “Is try not to promise a lot of things. I know there are a lot of folks that have let people down.”
According to Flanagan, his organization has been working with the DEP and OEM to obtain grant funding to rehab the Davis Center into a housing facility for State Park workers. Flanagan said the 40 bed facility is slated to have both dorm style housing and apartment styled units. “How do they help the workers at the State Park so that they don’t have to use room there and they can also be seasonal workers up here that aren’t using other housing or don’t have to use State Park Lodge Rooms to house those workers,” Flanagan said. “They can actually have people that are bringing dollars into the community for the tourism industry.”
Flanagan said the development is attempting to incorporate quality of life into the design. “We’re not coming in and just making it your typical development,” Flanagan said. “We’re trying to incorporate quality of life, so if you don’t want to get into your car, you have the ability to utilize the trail system.”
According to Flanagan, the goal of the meeting was to be as transparent as possible. “Our goal is to be transparent when we can,” Flanagan said. “Share with the communities what we can share. And try to be good neighbors and try to see the area grow and prosper whether that be you were born and raised here or you’ve chosen to uproot and move here.”
