Zoning Update

Since 2015, the Elkins Planning Commission has been working on an update to the city’s zoning laws, which have not been significantly updated since adoption in the 1950s.

The commission informally presented its proposed ordinance to city council on July 21 at 5 p.m. Here is a PDF of that presentation, given by Christy DeMuth, the WVU Land Use Law Clinic planner who has consulted with City of Elkins on this project.

There remain several additional steps before this ordinance can be adopted by council. Before the new ordinance can be adopted, it has to be formally presented to council by the commission. The date of the formal presentation has not yet been determined.

Even after the formal presentation, council must hold two public hearings, one in the daytime and one in the evening. These hearings have not yet been scheduled. They will be announced on the city’s social media channels, to the city’s email newsletter list, and as legal advertisements in the Inter-Mountain newspaper.

The proposed ordinance and related materials may be reviewed at the following links:

• Backgrounder: Proposed zoning ordinance
• Proposed zoning ordinance
• Study and Report on Zoning
• Proposed zoning map

If you’d like to compare the proposed ordinance and map to the current ones, they may be found here:

• Zoning map and PDF of zoning code
• Link to online zoning chapter of city code (same language as above PDF)