WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Virginia (STPNS) -- After hearing from the people more than two months ago, the Westmoreland Planning Commission voted this Monday night to do no more to facilitate adoption of a zoning amendment establishing a greenway corridor.

Planning Commission Chairman Sherman Davis commented that the county?s public would be optimally served if they knew for certain that the county government has no intention of going forward with legislation to establish the so-called greenway corridors.

?I make a motion that the greenway thing is dead on arrival,? said District 5 Planning Commissioner Ron Knight.



?And I second that motion,? said District 1 Commissioner Elwood Carey.

?If we do this, someone can still come back and reintroduce it if they have a reason,? said Davis to private citizens attending the record-long Planning Commission session.

?We aren?t going to proceed with the greenway and the 200-foot setback? that goes with it,? Commissioner Knight said with emphasis.

?If anyone brought it back, we would have to have an advertised public hearing,? Zoning Administrator and Planning Director Gary Ziegler explained, noting that the Commission previously conducted a public meeting on the subject.

That session, which was not an advertised public hearing, resulted in near-record public outcry. People not wishing to lose control of land fronted by designated public roads recently formed a citizens' group whose delegations now monitor all or most of the local government?s public meetings.

Ziegler explained the distinction between public meetings and advertised public hearings, noting that the meeting on the greenways proposal provided the Commission and its public with an opportunity to review the proposal.

A public hearing, he explained, would have to be advertised.

Will someone in county government take the greenway legislation off the shelf?

It could happen, Ziegler intimated.

?You may not see it advertised for four or five months, if the Planning Commission is trying to work on it.

?In this particular case, I believe it?s important for the public to know this greenway proposal isn?t going forward in its current [form].?

Davis called for the vote, which was unanimous.

?The greenway corridor will no longer proceed,? was Davis?s last remark before the November 5 Commission meeting was officially adjourned.