Triadelphia Leaders Eye Careful Implementation of Storage Container Ordinance
Photo by Eric Ayres Trending
WHEELING -- Officials in Triadelphia are working to implement a new ordinance requiring storage containers to be anchored in place -- a measure many residents feel is a step forward in the town's ongoing efforts to minimize the potential for future flood damage.
More than a year after the June 14, 2025, Father's Day flash flood devastated the community, people in Triadelphia continue to put their lives and livelihoods back together piece by piece and step by step.
The new ordinance regulating storage containers in town has been viewed as a bold initiative to help quell fears of more damage in the event of another flood. But it has not come without pushback from local businesses that own them -- businesses that have been part of the economic lifeblood of a community that has slowly continued to rebuild over the nearly 15 months since the flood.
Triadelphia officials are still working to find a balance that will allow them to enforce the new ordinance without causing unreasonable hardship for local businesses trying to comply with the new regulations.
During Wednesday night's meeting of Triadelphia Town Council, several residents attended the session and a number of people spoke in favor of efforts to regulate issues related to the large metal storage containers that can be seen throughout town.
"I want to commend you on the work you’re doing in that direction," Eric Hoskins told members of council. "Hopefully you guys will continue to honor all flood victims. People have suffered in this town for years for a lot of these issues. I’m hopeful you’ll continue to push in those directions."
Hoskins said Triadelphia looks like a town that is made up of storage containers in some areas.
"I know a lot of times you can’t make everybody happy," he told town officials Wednesday night. "The last thing I think any of you want to do is hurt business owners. We’ve talked about a balance between property, damage to infrastructure and someone being able to earn a living off of a storage unit, container and boxes ... things that can’t be tethered down."
Last year's flash flood turned Little Wheeling Creek into a raging current that ripped through the areas of Valley Grove and Triadelphia and into Wheeling's Elm Grove neighborhood along National Road. The rushing water destroyed homes and carried away vehicles, debris and even several large storage containers that banged into bridges, homes and everything in the floodwaters' path.
The flood claimed the lives of nine people and caused millions of dollars in damage to the creekside communities. A federal disaster declaration was issued in the wake of the flood and residents have been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other entities through ongoing relief efforts.
Charity Parsons of Triadelphia indicated to town leaders that storage units in her neighborhood are more prevalent now than occupied residences -- at least on her street in Sims Addition.
"I live back in the end by Link Avenue," Parsons said. "We are now the last inhabitants on Link Avenue because the two past us are not there anymore. We now have two storage units where a trailer used to sit that was washed off and took out a house. God forbid if it happens again, those storage containers are going to be down in our neighborhood taking other houses down. They’re allowed to put storage containers there, but yet the gentleman past us wasn’t allowed to put a trailer back in. That’s not fair."
The presence of the large containers next to creekside residences is enough to scare people in the neighborhood, Parsons noted.
"We have two heavy storage containers that are going to come back down if water happens to come through there," she said. "We live in fear every time it rains."
Triadelphia Mayor MaryAnn Hess said that although council approved the storage container ordinance in August, officials are still working to educate the public about the new regulations and fairly give business owners a chance to comply with the new rules.
"We’re getting everything worked out," Hess said. "The storage container ordinance is in place, as far as the rules. Right now we are trying to get it all implemented. We’ll be making decisions on what’s going to happen. If they stay, they will be required to be anchored.
Hess noted that the town already has an ordinance addressing trailers. The code states that a property owner cannot bring a new trailer to their property unless a trailer was there previously. For storage containers, they are expected to be permitted if they are anchored in place.
"We’re working on the legalities of it and getting everybody notified and in compliance with what the ordinance says," Hess said. "It’s in place, and it is in effect. We’re just having discussions about making sure that it’s appropriate for everybody and what are the best routes and ways to go."
Cheryl Kennedy, also a resident of Triadelphia, noted that more and more of these containers have appeared in town since last year's floods.
"With these storage sheds - they’re worried about making more money when so many of us lost homes, lost lives and everything else," Kennedy said. "I’ve lived in Triadelphia my whole life, and I just can’t imagine storage sheds right out there when there’s hardly any of us left. There’s too many. They took out bridges. We can’t lose any more lives in Triadelphia. We just can’t."
At a point following the devastating floods last year, a significant number of Triadelphia residents were forced to leave town. Many of them no longer had a home or a home that was inhabitable.
"It was well over 100 water customers that we lost," Police Chief Jim Kendle said.
Officials noted that others have since come into town and turned water service back on. There are some new businesses in town along with a handful of new residents and property owners, as well as longtime residents who continue to rebuild.
"We are seeing growth," Hess said. "It’s just a very slow process. I appreciate everybody’s patience. But every week we find something new we have to address and work on."
The mayor added that demolition permits continue to trickle in, noting that a damaged house near the fire department will soon be razed and removed.
Kendle added that banks are beginning to take ownership of a number of properties, so the process of demolishing damaged homes that need to be torn down and cleaning up those properties should be more expedited in the near future.
"We’ve had people complaining that ‘I’ve rebuilt my property, but my neighbor to the left or to the right took their FEMA money and left,’" Kendle said. "The wheels are moving, but - and I hate to say it - they move slow. We’ve been grinding to move forward to get properties cleaned up."
The chief said officials have also been working with the flood plain manager on various issues. They are hoping to see more uninhabitable structures removed in the coming months.
"By the end of the year? I hope so," Kendle said of the flood-damaged and abandoned homes that still pepper the community. "Every one that goes down is one less that anyone has to look at and be reminded of June 14."