When my email pinged Wednesday afternoon, and I saw something from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals pop up in my inbox, I didn’t think much of it initially.

I regularly receive notifications from the courts with a list of a handful of rulings. Most of the time, they involve cases in the southern areas of our state. Occasionally, there will be something from Wheeling.

So, it was a surprise to see not only that the email contained an announcement on only one case for that day, but also that it involved Weirton.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court sided with the City of Weirton and its Zoning Board of Appeals, reversing a previous decision by the state Intermediate Court of Appeals and declaring that a municipal or county government has the right to determine the types of businesses operating in a city, or where in the city they can operate, through its zoning process.

The ruling is the result of a long-time court dispute between the city and SWN Production, also known as Southwestern Energy. (the company merged with Chesapeake Energy in 2024 to form Expand Energy)

To summarize, in 2021, SWN filed for a conditional use permit to allow the development of a drilling pad operation on property off of the Park Drive area. Following months of debate and lengthy hearings, the Zoning Board voted down the application.

The decision resulted in SWN appealing to the Brooke County Circuit Court, which ruled in favor of the city. The case then went to the Intermediate Court, which decided in favor of SWN, reversing the Brooke Circuit Court decision. The Intermediate Court, though, did decide it was the improper venue for one aspect of the case – a writ of certiorari filed in the case. That part was upheld by the Supreme Court.

To be honest, despite it being a major point of news in the Weirton community for several months back in 2021, I hadn’t heard much movement for some time and had, essentially, lost track of it.

The 22-page document sent out Wednesday brought a lot of memories back.

Many of those who were involved in city leadership at the time are no longer in office or serving on the Zoning Board. I believe there may only be one individual still on the Zoning Board from that time. In my almost 25 years at this newspaper, it was one of less than a handful of requests where the Zoning Board has had to move its meeting to a larger venue to accommodate the crowds.

Dozens showed up to express their thoughts, both pro and con, on the proposal, with the pad expected to include around 14 drilling rigs.

They were long meetings, too, taking two to three hours.

Much of the debate over the last few years centered on whether a city can determine whether such a company can establish such an operation anywhere it wants within municipal limits, whether a city can dictate where such an operation can be or even outlaw it entirely.

Weirton, like many municipalities, has zoning laws, including the establishment of zoning districts. These laws are set to make sure, for example, a large manufacturing operation can’t be built within a residential area.

The counter argument was that only the state’s Department of Environmental Protection can decide whether a natural gas operation can have a permit.

The Supreme Court, in its Wednesday ruling said that, while, yes, the DEP, does have authority to issue permits, a city has its own authority, vested to it by the state, to determine whether those permits can be acted upon within the city’s limits.

I’m not going to delve into my thoughts on which side was right or wrong, if there can be such a thing in this situation. Both had their points and they attempted to make them, whether it be in front of the Zoning Board or through the court system. Now, a final decision has been made, and, as far as I can tell, this, in essence, established case law in West Virginia.

Years from now, or even in the coming months, other communities in the state will be able to point to this case. It would appear that, as long as such a condition is listed in zoning law, a city can, indeed, put limits on where a business can locate. All the more reason for people to stay informed and keep an eye on the actions of their government.

(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is part of the news staff of The Weirton Daily Times. He can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)