Roaring River silenced for now

By Steve Keenan/For The Register-Herald

FAYETTEVILLE -- Roaring River is flowing a little slower right now. But Scott Barfield, a real estate sales agent for Atlanta-based Land Resource Companies, says it's not drying up.

In a letter Tuesday to Fayette County zoning officer Tim Richardson, LRC withdrew an application for rezoning that would have allowed it to build 2,200 upscale homes on 4,300 acres along the New River Gorge. The controversial matter was to be heard Tuesday by the Fayette County Planning Commission.

"After careful consideration, the applicant has determined it will be necessary to revise its application ... to more accurately reflect the scope and nature of the Roaring River project in Fayette County," Barfield's letter read.

It went on to say that LRC "remains confident that the Roaring River project can comply with the provisions of Fayette County's comprehensive plan and development code, and it intends to present to the planning commission and county commission a proper plan to address the complex issues involved with this proposed development."

In a later conversation, Barfield said the firm plans to file a revised application that will eliminate a 613-acre tract owned by Rush Creek Land Co. within the boundaries of the New River Gorge National River. That property could be sold to the federal agency, although nothing has been finalized yet.

NRGNR Superintendent Cal Hite said he expected the LRC decision. "We're not too surprised," he said. "We think it's probably a good move." Hite said park officials will follow LRC's actions closely over the next few weeks.

"We'll re-examine their revised application should they file one," he said. "We're certainly willing to work with them and county officials to make sure if a development is built that it's done in such a way to not have permanent impairment on the national park."

Barfield said the company aims to file a revised application "within the next several weeks." According to Richardson, it's too late to meet the deadline for a possible March hearing, so the earliest the matter can be addressed is near the end of April.

Barfield says it's not a question of if, but when, his company places its second request in Richardson's hands."Anything worth doing is worth doing right," he said. "We're willing to take the time to do it right." Asked if there's a chance LRC won't come back to the table with a revised application, Barfield replied emphatically, "None whatsoever."

skeenan@fayettetribune.com

February 23, 2005 Charleston Gazette

Housing developers pull gorge zoning request

By Susan Williams, Staff writer

FAYETTEVILLE — Four hours before they were scheduled to appear at a zoning hearing Tuesday, developers who want to build thousands of houses in the New River Gorge withdrew their zoning request for now.

In a letter to Fayette County zoning officer Tim Richardson, Scott Barfield, an agent for the developers, said his company would submit a new application “within the next several weeks.”

Fayette’s planning and zoning commission was set to hear the request of LRC Holdings LLC, for a change in land classification from rural residence district to private land conservation district and planned unit development for 4,300 acres they own along the New River. The Georgia developers want to build 2,200 homes in the gorge.

Many points of the proposed development are controversial, but the largest controversy has centered on the 613 acres within the boundaries of the New River Gorge National Park, the same acreage the Park Service wants to buy and include in the park.

If the application had not been withdrawn, there would not have been enough room in the courtroom where the hearing took place to hold the dozens of people who turned out for the zoning hearing.

Richardson said Barfield submitted his letter withdrawing the application at 11 a.m. before the scheduled and publicly advertised zoning hearing was to take place at 3 p.m. Many people left the courthouse, but an overflow crowd remained for the scheduled hearing.

Neither Barfield nor any of the developers attended the hearing. Zoning Commissioner Al Gannon said he felt that showed “disrespect. For the ones who have already left, they wasted their time. These are our neighbors. This lacks decorum,” Gannon said.

Another zoning commissioner, Shad Dummitt, said he thinks the developers withdrew because they are “putting their ducks in a row.”

In his letter, Barfield wrote, “After careful consideration, the applicant has determined that it will be necessary to revise its application filed in the foregoing case to more accurately reflect the scope and nature of the Roaring River [housing] project in Fayette County. The applicant remains confident that the Roaring River project can comply with the provisions of Fayette County’s Comprehensive Plan and Development Code, and it intends to present to the Planning Commission and County Commission a proper plan to address the complex issues involved with this proposed development.”

In Fayette, planning and zoning officials make recommendations on zoning changes, and members of the Fayette County Commission have the final vote. The developers were also scheduled to go before the Fayette County Commission on Friday.

The likelihood that the developers would withdraw their application grew after members of the National Park Service showed Fayette County commissioners maps and a computerized video “fly over” of the gorge where the houses proposed for the rim of the gorge could be seen from overlooks, trails and the river.

Calvin Hite, superintendent of the New River Gorge National River, attended the zoning hearing, and had materials ready to give the zoning officials. After the hearing, Hite said he had spoken with the developers before the hearing, and they renewed their talks about the Park Service buying the 613 acres.

Hite is also concerned about an additional 649 acres that he wants to see come into the park.

“We are still concerned about the visual impact on the adjacent acreage, too,” Hite said.

“Anywhere you can see the rim, from the rim to the river, we worry about the view shed.”

At last Friday’s Fayette County Commission meeting, Andy Steel, a Park Service employee, produced a computerized “virtual” view of what the houses built on the rim of the gorge would look like.

To contact staff writer Susan Williams, use e-mail or call 348-5112.
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