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WEIRTON -- For the second time in recent years, the City of Weirton is working to update its zoning and development codes, with members of the city's Planning Commission meeting Wednesday to receive the newest draft of the proposed changes.
City Council repealed the latest Unified Development Ordinance last summer - approximately two years after it went into effect - re-enacting the document originally established in 2005 until an update could be completed.
"We've been working behind the scenes," Planning and Development Director Mark Miller said of the latest update. "There were some things we had concerns with the last time."
While the 2021 version of the UDO had been repealed, Miller noted he wasn't getting rid of the entire document, looking instead to streamline some aspects and make sure improved guidance is available for the future of the city.
He explained he also wants to make certain to receive input from some businesses or groups which may have been overlooked with the last UDO.
"The city didn't reach out to the major property owners last time," Miller said, noting he was in communication with many of those entities in developing the new drafts in order to get a better idea of potential plans for their properties.
Along those lines, the commission heard Wednesday from Pat Ford and Anthony Basil, representing the Frontier Group of Companies, which has been working in recent years to redevelopment more than 1,000 acres of land previously owned by Weirton Steel and its successors, to prepare it for future use.
Ford, director of external affairs and economic development for the Frontier Group, explained the company now owns 1,300 acres of property, including some residential areas along County Road.
"We want to use this opportunity to work with the city to clean up the edges," Ford said of the UDO draft.
Basil, project manager, said plans are for land north of Avenue A and stretching to just below St. Johns Road to be used for development of new apartments, with a request the area be zoned R-3 high density residential instead of its current R-2 medium density residential.
"We're taking areas that don't meet code and rezoning them for future use," Basil said.
Remaining Frontier property would be primarily used for heavy industrial purposes, although two areas, at the intersection of Weir Avenue and Cove Road, and some spots near the lower end of Pennsylvania Avenue, would be highlighted for general commercial development.
Miller said the Planning Commission would take the requests, as well as other input, into consideration as it moves forward on completing the new UDO.