Public Input Sought for Wheeling’s Comprehensive Plan Update
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WHEELING - The public is being asked to provide input to the city of Wheeling as it continues the process this year of developing a 10-year update to its Comprehensive Plan.
The city will host its first of four public workshops during a meeting scheduled to take place from 7-9 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12. The meeting will take place at West Virginia Northern Community College on Market Street downtown.
City leaders said this meeting will mark the beginning of the community process to create a city-wide Comprehensive Plan which will guide development and policy decisions for the next decade.
Wheeling Building and Planning Director Brenda J. Delbert noted that a city’s Comprehensive Plan is an important foundation on which decisions are made about planning and zoning proposals, as well as other future developments that determine from how the city grows and to how neighborhoods maintain their character.
"Planning and land use is important to every community," Delbert said. "Decisions should be made with the best land use in mind. This planning process and the plan will decide where we should focus resources and investments."
The city’s Comprehensive Plan will focus on revitalization and reinvestment in public spaces, business districts and neighborhoods. A Comprehensive Plan describes a community vision and the steps to make it a reality. Comprehensive Plans make recommendations that can inform land use regulations and help guide growth and development for up to a 10-year period.
Officials stressed the importance of having members of the community participate in the process of developing the 10-year update. The four-part planning process through these public work sessions will offer opportunities for the community to help shape city-wide priorities for the future.
"A comprehensive plan describes a community vision and the steps to make it a reality," Delbert noted. "Community voices are an essential foundation to the plan."
Meetings will be open to everyone. Those in attendance get a chance to share ideas with the city’s consultant team before they begin developing a strategy for improvements.
Doors for this first meeting will open at 6:30 p.m. The project will be introduced from 7-7:40 p.m. and discussions and exercises will be held from 7:40-9 p.m.
City officials and its consultant - Evolve of Pittsburgh - will continue a multi-phase process of developing the 10-year Comprehensive Plan update in the coming months.
"Phase one of the plan started in November of 2023 - Articulating a Vision," Delbert said. "We’re wrapping up phase one and will move to phase two - Developing a Plan. Phase three - Deepening Priorities - will be completed between June and August, and Phase four is Launching Into Action. The plan is expected to be adopted by city council by November 2024."
Last August, Wheeling City Council approved the recommendation of hiring Evolve to assist with the development of the 2024 update after a request for proposals was advertised. The city’s agreement with Evolve was not to exceed $100,000, which is being paid from Wheeling’s Community Development Block Grant Funds.
For more information about the upcoming meeting or the 10-year update of the Comprehensive Plan, contact Delbert at the Wheeling Building and Planning Department at 304-234-3702 or via email at bdelbert@wheelingwv.gov.