CROSS LANES, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Planning Commission is recommending the Kanawha County Commission not approve a request from Nitro officials to annex two miles of road in Cross Lanes.
The proposal, discussed at a public hearing Wednesday at Cross Lanes Elementary School, has been met with opposition from Cross Lanes residents who are concerned the action would be the first step in Nitro annexing the entire unincorporated community.
Nitro officials want to annex portions of Lakeview Drive and Goff Mountain Road, citing traffic problems that have resulted in wrecks and affected businesses at Nitro Marketplace. The annexation would not include any businesses or residences.
Yet most of the 140 attendees at the hearing opposed the idea because of concerns about giving Nitro more control of land in Cross Lanes.
“What’s going to happen is you start at point ‘A,’ and you guys are just going to go straight to point ‘Z,’ whether it’s this administration or the next administration,” John White, of Cross Lanes, said. “I saw this in Toledo, Ohio, where I grew up, and I saw it here in Cross Lanes.”
J.D. Strickland, a member of the Planning Commission, introduced the resolution against the annexation proposal.
“Over the years, there’s been a lot of people that have tried to incorporate or annex the unincorporated area of Cross Lanes,” he said. “It’s always been met with opposition. It’s just the will of the people.”
Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt said the Planning Commission’s decision came as no surprise to him.
“A majority of people in Cross Lanes realize that there’s traffic issues out at Nitro Marketplace. Our argument is still the same,” he said. “Those traffic conditions are costing us commerce out there.”
Multiple attendees asked why Nitro could not build a new road to divert traffic, but Casebolt said such road cannot be constructed.
“There would be so much dirt that would have to be moved. There’s too many slips there and too many ups and downs,” he said. “You wouldn’t see much residential development out of it, and you would see very little business development out of it. They could justify building a multi-million dollar road back across over to Nitro.”
The Kanawha County Commission has the final say on the proposal; commissioners will consider the recommendation at its Dec. 5 meeting.