MIDDLEWAY, W.Va. — Two historic preservation organizations have entered a legal battle over a proposed industrial development near one of West Virginia’s oldest historic communities.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals to uphold the Jefferson County Planning Commission’s rejection of a controversial water bottling facility.
The brief argued that the Jefferson County Planning Commission acted within its authority in March 2025 when it denied California-based Sidewinder Enterprises’ proposal to construct a nearly one-million-square-foot water bottling and processing facility adjacent to the Middleway Historic District.
In their filing, the preservation organizations said that Jefferson County Circuit Court correctly upheld the commission’s decision that the proposal would violate Jefferson County’s zoning ordinance by destroying the historic character of the Middleway Historic District, a community listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980.
“The Circuit Court properly affirmed the Planning Commission’s clear and factual findings concerning the destruction of historic character the Concept Plan would inflict upon the Middleway Historic District,” the organizations wrote.
The Planning Commission voted in March 2025 to deny Sidewinder’s concept plan following months of widespread public opposition. The next month, Jefferson County Circuit Court affirmed that decision, finding the proposal conflicted with Section 4.4(C) of the county’s zoning ordinance, which prohibits development that would destroy the historic character of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The district contains around 60 historic structures dating to the 1700s and 1800s, many built from log walls with stacked stone foundations. The community also includes a Civil War hospital site, battlefield and marked and unmarked Civil War graves.
The organizations said the plan would cause “unacceptable destruction” and “poses significant structural risks to historic properties” because there would be an influx of tractor-trailers to the area if the water bottling facility were to be approved.
According to the group, accepting Sidewinder’s arguments would significantly weaken the ability of planning commissions throughout West Virginia to deny developments that threaten historic resources.
“Planning Commissions play a critical role in the protection of West Virginia’s historic resources,” the organizations wrote. “If Sidewinder’s arguments concerning the evidentiary standards required for planning commission denials are accepted, planning commissions would no longer be able to deny applications that will obviously destroy historic resources. This would be a crippling outcome for historic preservation in West Virginia.”
The appeal has drawn support from the Jefferson County Foundation and 11 additional intervenors who have joined the county in defending the Planning Commission’s decision.
Sidewinder Enterprises filed its final response with the court in June.
A decision from the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is expected later this year.