MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A procedural question has delayed the zoning appeal filed by the Berkeley County Council against the City of Martinsburg.
During a status hearing Wednesday a Berkeley County Judge granted a request to wait 21 days before reconvening to determine if the appeal is being addressed under State Code Section 8A, which deals with zoning matters, or under a different section of code.
County Attorney Norwood Bentley said it will impact how they proceed.
“If it goes under 8A, the county would have to give notice to everybody who might be adverse,” according to Bentley.
Bentley said that includes about 40 people who spoke during a public hearing in December just ahead of a 4-3 vote from the city that denied the requested change that would have cleared the way for the county owned Royce Hosiery Facility to be used as a drug-and-alcohol rehabilitation-center.
City Attorney Kin Sayre says they want to make sure everything is in order before they move ahead.
“We just want to make sure we don’t have an error that could get appealed further to the Supreme Court,” Sayre said.
Sayre said the appeal is based on the record, which will need to be entered into the court file before a briefing schedule can be set.