photo by: Emma Delk

Moundsville Mayor David Wood gives his report during Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Moundsville Council members unanimously approved a recommendation by the Traffic Subcommittee prohibiting an exit onto Fifth Street from 500 Lafayette Avenue, the location of a vape shop property, during Tuesday’s meeting.

The decision came after discussion among council members regarding traffic safety issues on Fifth Street due to other exits to Fifth Street, including the Monarch Drive entrance from the John Marshall High School Stadium, requiring cars to cross three traffic lines.

If the Traffic Subcommittee recommendation was not approved by council, vehicles could exit Hemp Vaping Adventure & Smoke Shop onto Fifth Street.

Moundsville Building Inspector Joe Richmond said he visited the vape shop property with Council Members Dennis Hall and Eugene Saunders, a member of the Traffic Subcommittee, to look at the proposed exit. Richmond said the three agreed it would “not be a wise decision” to open up that side of the street to exiting traffic from the business. He noted that the “whole reason” there was an exit onto Fifth Street on the property was so Lamar Advertising could service the sign located there.

“There are safety issues coming out onto Fifth Street from that exit,” Richmond said. “There’s traffic coming from three different directions, and it’s going to be a nightmare down there with another exit.”

Council Member Randy Chamberlain questioned whether Lamar could still use the exit if they approved the recommendation. Richmond confirmed that their trucks would be able to back in and pull out when they needed to service the sign using the exit. Hall added that the Moundsville Fire Department would also use the exit if needed.

Council Member Ginger DeWitt, a member of the Traffic Subcommittee, noted that the “same exact scenario” was occurring right across the street at the Monarch Drive at the exit from the John Marshall High School Stadium.

“I mean we’re preventing them [Hemp Vaping Adventure & Smoke Shope customers] from using that exit, but at the same time, Marshall County Schools are allowed to keep their exit open and that is very dangerous getting out right there because you still have to cross three lines of traffic,” DeWitt said. “I just don’t understand why it will be prohibited when you have the same scenario on the other side.”

Hall said an option for the exit they discussed with the MFD Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Kimple during their visit to the property was to install three concrete posts with a chain going through them that only Lamar and the MFD would have a key to unlock to access the exit.

Terry Boggs, who is assisting the Hemp Vaping Adventure & Smoke Shope owner in opening the shop, was asked to speak by Mayor David Wood to give his opinion on the recommendation. Boggs noted that there was an apartment complex behind the vape shop with “no restrictions” regarding whether vehicles can enter or exit from Fifth Street.

“How can someone decide that one entrance and exit has no restrictions whatsoever and the other is completely restricted?” Boggs questioned council members. “I don’t understand that logic.”

Boggs said he proposed making the vape shop exit onto Fifth Street, denoted as “exit only” with signs informing drivers on each side of the exit.

“My stance is that you can’t just look at it from the standpoint of, ‘Well, people are going to do what they want to do,'” Boggs said. “We can put a double yellow line on roads and tell people not to cross it unless it’s dotted. You don’t eliminate traffic because somebody doesn’t listen, they get arrested or fined. To completely shut that exit down is really going to look bad.”

In other business, council members unanimously approved adopting the 2024 City of Moundsville Comprehensive Plan. The plan was a revision of the 2014 comprehensive plan with additions that identified new areas of concern for the city and new goals to address them.