The Kanawha County Commission and St. Albans are engaged in a land battle.
In November, St. Albans City Council unanimously approved an the annexation of three buildings in unincorporated Kanawha County: Anne Bailey Elementary School, the St. Albans transfer station, and the Amandaville Court Apartment Complex, which is owned by the St. Albans housing authority.
That decision has put home and business owners in the surrounding area on edge.
"Their only concern is they want assurance that there's no intention to annex their business or plan to make a hostile annexation effort in the future," said Kin Sayre, a lawyer representing Joe Pyle's auto auction, during council's Nov. 16 meeting.
As a result of the backlash - a banner hangs at the intersection of U.S. 60 and W.Va. 817 that says "We do not want to be annexed!" in large red letters - the commission is hosting a public hearing about the issue at their meeting today.
"I want to hear from parties affected and why they have an issue with the annexation," said Commissioner Dave Hardy.
Even though business owners and homeowners aren't directly affected by the annexation, the commission has sent a letter inviting St. Albans Mayor Richard Callaway to come to their meeting to discuss their concerns and answer questions regarding the legality of the annexation.
The mayor has not returned the Gazette-Mail's request for comment.
To annex these buildings and roads, St. Albans is trying to perform an annexation without election. Basically that means that if they get a petition from the majority of voters and freeholders in an area, they can annex that land into the city limits.
During the St. Albans public hearing on the issue, the mayor said the city is annexing the land so that the buildings have access to the St. Albans fire and police departments.
St. Albans will not make any money in tax revenue from the buildings, although the acquisition of the roads will allow the city's police department to issue citations in a wider area.
Last year, the Kanawha County Sheriff Department made 156 traffic stops in that area, according to data from Metro 911.
"We [already] have enough police opportunities to give people citations," said St. Albans City Councilman Ron Colby, who represents Ward 3, dismissing the idea that they were looking to raise revenue through the annexation.
The county commission is raising questions about whether or not St. Albans got the necessary approval in order to comply with state law.
For one, not only is the city planning to annex the three buildings, two of which they already own, but they're also planning to annex the roads, U.S. 60 and W.Va. 817, that lead to them. The pothole ridden streets with the occasional roaming rooster that surround the apartment complex are not included in the annexation.
Opponents are arguing that the city should have gotten a petition from the state Department of Transportation, which owns the highways, to annex the roads.
"I don't know how much we would be involved in getting permission from us," said Carrie Bly, DOT spokeswoman. "As far as I'm concerned, they're our roads and it really doesn't matter what the name of the town is around it."
The legal requirement for the city to receive a petition from the majority of freeholders has also created legal questions. Because the roads are being annexed, some opponents are arguing that the businesses that share a boundary with the road should be considered freeholders.
Despite the hullabaloo, if the city of St. Albans complied with the law, the Kanawha County Commission is legally required to sign off on the annexation - something that Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper acknowledges.
"I don't think I can stop it," Carper said.
However, Carper is a vocal opponent of municipalities annexing unincorporated land. And since home and business owners in the area surrounding St. Albans have come to him with concerns that they'll be next, Carper has been quick to take their side.
"I think if you live outside of a city, and you don't want to live in a city, then you should be left alone," Carper said.
And while Carper pointed out that there has been no written promise that the city won't try to annex those homes in the future, the city council has remained firm that they have no intentions of grabbing that land.
"There is no plan in place, that I'm aware of, of starting a campaign of a hostile or unfriendly takeover of the land," said Councilman Colby.
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.