To Davis Residents,
I felt compelled to respond to Jeannette T. Ware’s letter. I have attended almost every meeting of the planning committee this past year. While many changes have been made, I still have concerns.
First, Jeannette states “we need to preserve what we can of Our Community”. We never had these regulations on the residential community before so they are not “preserving” anything. The newer residents of our town may have enjoyed living under HOA rules but I personally do not. Many have visited Davis, said they “love” Davis, move here, then want to change it to the way they lived in the cities. Why come here then is my question. Also, the town does not enforce ordinances on the books now. 1 example: building permits are not being submitted by all homeowners or in 1 case I (and the Town) know of was falsified and nothing was done about it.
It seems like Jeannette’s main concern is the Short Term Rental MAJOR problem we have. I couldn’t agree more! If you take the long view, when most homes in town have been purchased and turned into STR’s we would no longer exist as a town. As Davis would have only weekend visitors occupying the homes, there would be no need for a Mayor or council. There would be no one here to govern! Perhaps the county would have to take over water/sewer/trash services. There is a lack of affordable housing for Davis natives so what is their plan? They are stopping the building of apartments in residential sections of town. They want them built in the Industrial section on Rt. 93. Would you want to raise your children in an Industrial area?
There is a simple solution. Every month I have asked the Planning Committee to only pass the Business/Commercial and Short Term Rental sections of the Zoning Ordinance AS ALLOWED BY WV STATE CODE. They absolutely do not have to pass all or none. Leave the residents out of it!
I encourage everyone who intends to vote to thoroughly read the entire Zoning Ordinance. You can pick up a copy at City Hall. I intend on voting NO on the ordinance as written. If amended to remove the residential section I would vote Yes.
Lori Quattro