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1
Comprehensive Plan
for the
City
of
Wheeling
1997 Update
Honorable John W. Lipphardt, Mayor
Jimmy E. Curnes, City Manager
Wheeling City Council
Ward 1
Ward 4
Larry ABabe@ Schmitt
Cliff Sligar
Ward 2
Ward 5
Vernon E. Seals
Mike Nau
Ward 3
Ward 6
Mary Margaret Kleeh
Randy Wharton
City Planning Commission
Ruth Bennett
(Chair)
Jacqueolyn Calmbacher
Gloria Cress
David Flatley (resigned)
William Gossett
Atwood W. ABink@ Haning, Jr.
Russell Jebbia
Thomas M. McCulloch
Jack D. Mendelson
Stephen R. Morris
Shirley Paige
Larry
A
Babe
@
Schmitt
Fred G. Simon, Jr.
Thomas A. E. Stephan
R. David Weis
Eugene AChip@ West, Jr.
Plan Update Steering Committee
Bill Beckett
Ruth Bennett
Bob DeFrancis
Frank Ellis
Bob Galbreath
Perry Galloway
William Gossett
Marsha Groover
Andy McKenzie
Stephen R. Morris
Howard Monroe
Joe Mullen
Fred G. Simon, Jr.
Jo Tellers
Susan Vail
R. David Weis
City of Wheeling Staff:
Paul T. McIntire, Director, Department of Development
David Klug, Deputy Director, Department of Development
Tom Murphy, Planning Administrator
Arlene Staub, Administrative Assistant
Comprehensive Plan Consultants
The Burnham Group, a collaborative effort of
Pflum, Klausmeier & Gehrum Consultants, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio
C.M. Research, Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas
Cooper $
Ross s.v.,
Birmingham, Alabama
Table of Contents
Vision Statement ........................................................................................................................ 1
$
Executive Summary........................................................................................... 2
$
Why Have a Comprehensive Plan? ..................................................................4
Chapter 1
$
Study Area Definition and Plan Development
Study Area Definition .........................................................................................5
How the Plan Was Developed ..........................................................................5
Identification of Planning Issues ........................................................................8
Chapter 2
$
Land Demand Demographic and Employment Trends
Demographic Trends and Projections ........................................................
10
Employment Trends and Projections......................................................17
Land Demand Analysis ..........................................................................25
Chapter 3
$
Land Development Capacity
Existing Land Use ................................................................................. 26
Topography ........................................................................................... 26
Flood Plain ............................................................................................ 28
Drainage Patterns ................................................................................ 32
Land Capacity and Developable Areas ................................................ 32
Comparison of Demand and Capacity Analysis ................................... 33
Chapter 4
$
Housing Characteristics ................................................................................. 36
Chapter 5
$
Infrastructure Characteristics........................................................................... 44
Chapter 6
$
Historic Districts .............................................................................................. 49
Chapter 7
$
Vision Statement, Goals and Policies ............................................................. 52
Chapter 8
$
Land Use Concept Areas ............................................................................... 58
!
Chapter 9
$
THE PLAN........................................................................................................60
Land Use Element ........................................................................................... 61
Downtown...............................................................................................63
Special Planning Areas ..........................................................................66
Annexation Element .........................................................................................73
Transportation Element .................................................................................. 75
Housing Element ............................................................................................ 80
Historic Resources Element ............................................................................87
Park and Recreation Element ......................................................................... 89
Infrastructure Element ..................................................................................... 91
Chapter 10
$
Implementation Recommendations and Conclusion ....................................... 93
Focus Area................................................................................................................................101
$
North Wheeling Focus Area Plan ............................................................................. 102
$
National Road Corridor Focus Area Plan ................................................................. 111
Appendix
$
Bibliography of Planning Resource Documents
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
List of Maps
Map 1
$
Study Area Map .....................................................................................................6
Map 2
$
Neighborhoods of Wheeling ...................................................................................7
Map 3
$
Population Per Acre ............................................................................................ 11
Map 4
$
Existing Land Use ............................................................................................... 27
Map 5
$
Digital Slope Analysis .......................................................................................... 29
Map 6
$
Flood Plain & Slope ............................................................................................. 30
Map 7
$
Drainage Patterns ............................................................................................... 31
Map 8
$
Potential Development Areas .............................................................................. 35
Map 9
$
Housing Density ................................................................................................... 38
Map 10
$
Average Value of Housing Units by Census Block (1990) .................................. 39
Map 11
$
Housing Unit Types ............................................................................................ 40
Map 12
$
Percent of Housing Units Owner Occupied by Census Block (1990) .................. 41
Map 13
$
Owner Occupancy From Ohio County Assessor
=
s Files ..................................... 42
Map 14
$
Housing Structure Conditions from Ohio County Assessors Files ....................... 43
Map 15
$
Combined Sewer Overflow Locations .................................................................. 47
Map 16
$
Water System Service Area ................................................................................. 48
Map 17
$
National Register Historic Districts Map................................................................51
Map 18
$
Planning Concept Areas .................................................................................... 59
Map 19
$
Land Use Plan...................................................................................................... 62
Map 20
$
Annexation Study Areas ........................................................................................ 74
Map 21
$
Transportation Plan ............................................................................................... 78
Map 22
$
Transit Service Routes Map .................................................................................. 79
Map 23
$
Housing Revitalization Zone #1 ............................................................................ 83
Map 24
$
Housing Revitalization Zone #2 ............................................................................ 84
Map 25
$
Housing Revitalization Zone #3 ............................................................................ 85
Map 26
$
Housing Revitalization Zone #4............................................................................. 86
Map 27
$
Park and Recreation Facilities .............................................................................. 90
Map 28
$
Wellhead Protection Area ..................................................................................... 92
North Wheeling Focus Area Plan
Map 29
$
Existing Land Use ........................................................................................ 103
Map 30
$
Existing Zoning ............................................................................................ 106
Map 31
$
Focus Area Plan .......................................................................................... 108
National Road Focus Area Plan
Map 32
$
Existing Land Use ........................................................................................112
Map 33
$
Existing
Zoning
.............................................................................................113
Map 34
$
Focus Area Plan .......................................................................................... 118
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
List of Graphs
Graph 1
$
Historic Population Trends, Wheeling MSA ....................................... 12
Graph 2
$
Recent
Population Trends ................................................................. 13
Graph 3
$
Population Age Distribution 1940 ....................................................... 14
Graph 4
$
Population Age Distribution 1950 ....................................................... 14
Graph 5
$
Population Age Distribution 1960 ....................................................... 14
Graph 6
$
Population Age Distribution 1970 ....................................................... 14
Graph 7
$
Population Age Distribution 1980 ....................................................... 14
Graph 8
$
Population Age Distribution 1990 ....................................................... 14
Graph 9
$
Ohio County Population Age Distribution, 1990 ..................................15
Graph 10
$
Wheeling MSA Population Age Distribution, 1990 ............................. 15
Graph 11
$
Future
Population Projection ..............................................................16
Graph 12
$
Employment
Trends, Wheeling MSA...................................................17
Graph 13
$
Manufacturing
Employment
Trends, Wheeling MSA ......................... 18
Graph 14
$
Mining Employment Trends, Wheeling MSA ..................................... 18
Graph 15
$
Retail
Employment Trends ................................................................ 19
Graph 16
$
Service
Employment Trends ............................................................. 20
Graph 17
$
Government
Employment Trends ...................................................... 21
Graph 18
$
Future Employment Projections ................................................................ 24
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
1
Vision Statement
In the twenty-first century, Wheeling will have a
positive quality of life based on a diverse
economy driven primarily by the service,
technology, manufacturing and tourism
industries occurring in a safe, traditional small
town setting with strong neighborhoods and
an efficient supporting infrastructure that
will maintain the existing level of service.
Vision Statement developed by the Wheeling
Compre-hensive Plan Update Steering Committee and
adopted by the Wheeling City Planning Commission and
the Wheeling City Council in June 1996
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
2
Executive Summary
This is an update of the Comprehensive Plan
of the City of Wheeling, West Virginia, which was
last updated on a city wide basis in 1964. In the
period since the last Plan Update, Wheeling has
experienced a significant decline in population and
employment, a trend that has continued at a steady
pace since 1940. At the same time, the remaining
population has become markedly older, as the out-
migration occurred primarily among younger people.
Despite the population decline, some positive
trends have emerged. Population projections
(prepared as part of this Plan Update) suggest that
for the Wheeling metropolitan area as a whole, the
decline appears to be leveling off. A modest
increase in the population is expected to occur in
the Wheeling metropolitan area over the next
twenty-five year period. What portion, if any, of this
modest increase will occur in the City of Wheeling
itself is difficult to forecast and will depend on the
City
=
s willingness to aggressively capture new
growth.
This Plan is a call to action to reverse negative
trends, to reinforce positive trends, and to
encourage population and economic growth within
the City
=
s boundaries. In order to accomplish these
goals, this Plan recommends that the City improve
its competitive position as a place to live and work.
The City cannot afford to simply accept the
prevailing trends, but rather must take assertive
and proactive action to determine its own future.
This Plan, if implemented, will put the City of
Wheeling on track for a prosperous and productive
21st century, a future that fulfills the promise of the
City
=
s proud heritage.
Key recommendations of the plan include:
C
Extension of a relocated and improved W.V.
Route 2
C
through Stackyard Hollow and north
along the ridge tops through the Richland
Magisterial District to the vicinity of the
Wheeling/Ohio County Airport
C
to gain access to
more than 4,000 acres of developable land.
C
Aggressive action by the City to bring about
redevelopment in nine special planning areas as
defined by this plan. These areas include the
riverfront in North Wheeling, a shopping area
located at the intersection of I-470 and W.V.
Route 2, and light industrial redevelopment in the
southern portion of East Wheeling.
C
The development of a regional economic
adjustment strategy to position the region to
participate more fully in an economy based on
information technology. This strategy should
involve a regional collaboration of government,
business, and educational institutions throughout
the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.
C
Consolidation of the City
=
s housing policy
coordination under a single umbrella entity
derived from the existing Wheeling Housing
Authority. This effort should be directed toward
increasing home ownership and property
maintenance in the City
=
s older neighborhoods,
and the development of new middle-income
housing to attract new residents into the City.
C
Institution of a viable historic conservation
strategy to preserve the essence of the City's
historic heritage (as described and adopted in
the Wheeling National Heritage Area Plan). This
strategy should include expanded use of historic
zoning districts that include measures to regulate
building renovation and demolition as well as the
design characteristics of new development.
C
Revision of the Zoning Ordinance and
Subdivision Regulations to bring them into
conformance with contemporary practice and
with the Federal Fair Housing Act, and to provide
protection to the City
=
s older residential
neighborhoods from the practice of subdividing
single family homes into multiple apartments or
commercial establishments.
C
Strengthened enforcement of the City
=
s codes
relating to building condition, as well as
improvements in the permitting process to
encourage new development in the City.
This Plan Update incorporates viable
suggestions made in past plans with new ideas for
the future. Immediate action is imperative. City
leaders are encouraged to examine what measures
will be necessary to remove past obstacles and
forge strong alliances in order to ensure
implementation of this Plan
=
s recommendations.
Multiple courses of action are indicated.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
BUSINESS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 15,2020
C2
Wheeling W.V. Experiences
Rebirth
City Finds New
Life in Old Clothes
By CALEB A. FAUX
WHEELING, Aug. 14 - Thirty
years ago, Wheeling, West
Virginia was a classic example of
what had become known as the
Rust Belt. Once a thriving
industrial center, the city had
suffered a prolonged period of
decline beginning not long after
the end of World War II and
lasting into the 1990s.
Today, the City of Wheeling
has been transformed into a
regional entertainment center, a
conference destination and a
stable community offering a
quality of life envied by civic
leaders across the Midwest.
The most visible symbols of
change in Wheeling are the well
known riverfront, the bustling
hotel and convention center
located just south of downtown at
the junction of the Ohio River and
Wheeling Creek, the prominent
CitiCorp offices seen by millions
of travelers passing through
Wheeling on Interstate 70, and
the North Wheeling historic area.
But behind these symbols is a
more fundamental change in the
basic economy of the Wheeling
area. The key to changing
Wheeling
=
s fortunes lay in
developing a strategy to bring a
new economic base to the area.
The story behind this transition is
one of civic faith and
determination.
The History
In 1940, Wheeling had a
population of 60,000. By 1990,
that number had fallen to less
than 35,000. What had been the
mainstays of the local economy,
mining and manufacturing, had
suffered a combined loss of more
than 14,000 jobs in the three
county Wheeling Metropolitan
area during a twenty five year
period beginning in 1965.
Moreover, the remaining
population was becoming
markedly older than the rest of
the nation. In 1995, only Arizona,
Florida and Arkansas had a
higher percentage of population
above age 65 than West Virginia.
Ohio County, where Wheeling is
located, led the state at 19.8% in
contrast to the national average
of 12.5%.
Downtown Wheeling had
declined due to competition from
malls located in Ohio across the
Ohio River in Belmont County.
While the population had
declined, and retailers had left
town, the City of Wheeling was
burdened with the task of
maintaining an aging
infrastructure built to support its
earlier population.
City leaders realized that
aggressive action was necessary
to counteract the prevailing
trends buffeting Wheeling. Led
by then Mayor John W.
Lipphardt, the City charted a new
course that sought to market the
City
=
s best attributes as a lure to
attract new business and
residents.
In doing so, the City became
part of a national trend towards
growth in small and medium
sized towns and cities that offer a
quality of life featuring low crime
rates, good schools, scenic
surroundings and recreational
amenities.
The Heritage Plan
The City
=
s turn towards
recovery began in the early
1990's with the development of a
Plan that led to the revitalization
the City
=
s riverfront area. With
the assistance of former Senator
Robert C. Byrd, the City of
Wheeling was designated a
A
National Heritage Area
@
. The
development of the water front
port area and the popular
riverfront restaurants can all be
traced to the Heritage Plan.
The development of the
convention center on the banks
of the Ohio River at the mouth of
Wheeling Creek was also
envisioned in the Heritage Plan.
The convention center brought
with it the development of a new
Hotel and the renovation of
several older buildings in its
immediate neighborhood into first
class office space.
The Heritage Plan was the
embodiment of a concept first
proposed by Harry Hamm, the
former editor of the Wheeling
News- Register. Late in his
career, while confined to bed by
illness, Hamm wrote Wheeling
2000, a personal vision statement
regarding the future of Wheeling.
Hamm proposed a strategy of
building Wheeling into a
retirement and tourist destination,
to capitalize on the low
crime rate, excellent parks,
central location good schools and
scenic environment as the major
drawing cards.
seeking
The City Wide Plan
Building on the concepts
incorporated into the Heritage
Plan, in 1997 the City completed
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
3
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
4
an update to its Comprehensive
Plan. The 1997 Plan combined
recognition of the attractive but
largely unrecognized assets the
City already had to offer with a
strategy designed to maximize
the use of under utilized
opportunities.
To be Continued ???
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
5
Why Have a Comprehensive Plan?
A Comprehensive Plan is two things: it is a
statement of a vision for the future of the City
articulated by its citizens and a road map for
policy implementation that will allow the vision to
become reality. When adopted by City Council,
the Plan becomes a statement of the City
=
s
intentions regarding future development. As
such, it becomes an important piece of the
legal foundation upon which the justification for
future policy decisions by the City
Administration, Board of Zoning Appeals, City
Planning Commission, and City Council will rest.
The Comprehensive Plan should be
regarded as the guiding reference document
when making decisions about zoning,
investment in public infrastructure, public
facilities, and general public policy regarding
growth and development of the City. When
the City
=
s intentions in this regard change, it is
appropriate to amend the Plan to reflect the
change. Use of the Comprehensive Plan in this
way will help ensure that such decisions are
made in a coordinated way and support the
shared vision that the Plan represents.
While a comprehensive plan is primarily
concerned with the physical environment, it
incorporates decisions which, if implemented,
will have broad consequences that can
influence the quality of life for the citizens of
Wheeling in many ways. Of these, perhaps the
most important are those that will influence the
health of the City
=
s economic base. Due to
constraints imposed by topography, which result
in a severe shortage of developable sites, these
decisions may be more critical in Wheeling than
they are in other locations.
The first Comprehensive Plan for the City of
Wheeling was completed and adopted in 1964.
In 1983, the City undertook an update of the
Plan which was to have included detailed plans
for each neighborhood in the City. The 1983
Update was never completed due to a lack of
funds, however, detailed plans were finished for
North Wheeling, South Wheeling, East
Wheeling, Center Wheeling, Fulton/Glenwood,
Warwood, and Elm Grove. Thus, this 1996 Plan
Update is the first complete city wide update to
occur in more than thirty years.
This Plan Update is intended to cover the
period from 1997-2020. A plan update is, as the
name implies, a review of the existing plan for
the purpose of making additions and/or changes
where appropriate to reflect changed
circumstances and concerns. It is not, and
should not be, a complete reinvention of the
wheel. As such the Plan Update builds upon
plans that have gone before as the basis for a
new plan. Simply because the ideas embodied
in previous plans may not have been
accomplished does not by definition show those
concepts to be flawed.
In addition to the two previous
Comprehensive Plans, from time to time other
land use plans which focused on particular
areas have also been prepared by the City.
Most notably, these efforts include the recent
(1992) Wheeling National Heritage Area Plan, a
1990 Waterfront and Downtown Plan, a 1990
Center Wheeling Revitalization and
Redevelopment Plan, a 1988 East Wheeling
Revitalization Plan, a 1977 Action Program for
Central Business District Rejuvenation, and a
1974 Development Analysis of East Wheeling. Also worth
the success of Oglebay Park and the Wheeling
Jamboree. In part the Wheeling 2000 Plan led
to the development of the Wheeling National
Heritage Area Plan. All of the available planning
documents were reviewed in the early stages of
this Plan Update and have served as valuable
resources in its preparation. To the greatest
extent possible, the previous planning efforts
have been incorporated into and coordinated
with this Plan. A complete bibliography of the
planning documents reviewed is contained in
the Appendix to this report.
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
6
Chapter
1
Study Area Definition and Plan Development
Study Area Definition
At the outset of the planning process, a
study area (to be used for analysis in the plan)
was defined in cooperation with the City
=
s
Department of Development. In general, the
detailed data collection and analysis performed
was confined to the area within the City limits.
However, it must be recognized that Wheeling
does not exist in a vacuum and to be seen
properly must be viewed in its larger context.
For this reason, a larger study area was agreed
upon in consultation with the staff of the City
=
s
Department of Development.
The study area includes areas that are
external to the City because it is clear that the
development of these areas will have a
significant impact on the future of Wheeling.
The Study Area is shown in Map #1. These
areas are located primarily to the north of the
City in the Richland and Triadelphia magisterial
districts, extending to the northern boundary of
Ohio County and encompassing the Wheeling-
Ohio County Airport.
The inclusion of these areas in this Plan
should not be construed as a statement of intent
by the City of Wheeling to seek annexation in
these areas, although the subject of potential
annexation is addressed directly in Chapter 10
of this Plan. As with data collection, the public
involvement process associated with the
development of this plan was also confined to
the City of Wheeling.
Wheeling has been for many years a city of
well-defined neighborhoods. Because these
neighborhoods are directly referred to
throughout the text of this Plan, the official
boundaries are shown in Map #2 as a point of
reference for the reader.
How The Plan Was Developed
In order to develop a plan that will serve as
a valued policy guide in future decision making,
it is essential that two important elements be in
place. These elements include thorough data
collection and citizen involvement. A plan that
is not based on these elements will likely not be
implemented because it has no basis in reality.
The manner in
which these two critical requirements were
addressed in this Plan Update is outlined below.
Data Collection
A realistic comprehensive plan must be
founded on a complete understanding of the
physical, demographic and economic context in
which the plan must be implemented. Thus,
the first step in any planning process is the
collection of data to be used as the basic source
of reference while developing the plan. This
data must include detailed information about the
physical characteristics of the land and how it is
being used, information about the extent and
condition of the public infrastructure, information
about current demographic characteristics of the
population as well as historic demographic
trends, and information about current and
historic economic conditions in the area.
A notable feature of the development of this
Plan Update has been the City of Wheeling
=
s
first venture into the area of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) technology. In
conjunction with this planning process, the City
purchased computer hardware and software
with the intent of developing an operational GIS
system in-house. Essentially, a GIS system
connects a digital map with a computerized
database. A well developed and maintained
GIS system can be an invaluable tool for
providing the data required for informed decision
making by the City. The initial data source for
building the Wheeling GIS system was the
property records database maintained by the
Ohio County Tax Assessor
=
s office.
In addition to the analysis of the GIS,
extensive field investigation both supplemented
and verified the data. In particular the field work
focused on housing conditions in the City of
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
7
Wheeling. The services of the Regional
Research Institute located at West Virginia
University were retained for the task of
analyzing past economic and demographic
trends as well as to prepare projections of future
trends.
Map #1 study
area map
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
8
Map #2 -
Wheeling
Neighborhoods
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
9
Citizen Involvement
Citizen involvement is critical in any planning
process. This is a Plan for Wheeling, and must, if it
is to mean anything, accurately represent the desires
and ambitions of the citizens of Wheeling.
For this
reason, an extensive program to secure citizen
involvement has been made part of the process
in developing this Plan Update. First, a Plan
Update Steering Committee was selected to
provide guidance to the consultant and to City
staff throughout the plan development process.
It includes representatives of the Planning
Commission and a broad cross section of
interests within Wheeling.
Other means of soliciting local input were
utilized as well. During the early stages of the
planning process, personal interviews were
conducted with key persons in the City
administration and with community
representatives to provide historical insight into
the issues that are considered important in the
City of Wheeling.
Similarly a series of six
well-publicized public workshops were held in
locations throughout the City in the first phase of
the planning process to provide interested
citizens the opportunity to raise issues of
concern and make suggestions regarding the
direction the Plan should take. The members
of the Steering Committee were active
participants in these workshops. To allow for
more detailed responses by workshop
participants, as well as to accommodate people
who were unable to attend a workshop, a survey
questionnaire was also widely distributed by
publication in the Wheeling News-Register and
through the Ohio County School system,
providing an additional opportunity for input into
the planning process.
Based on the concerns raised through all of
these sources, as well as on review of the data
being collected by the consultants, the Plan
Update Steering Committee met midway
through the planning process for a two-day
A
visioning session.
@
The result was a set of
goals and policies to guide the development of
the final Plan. These were submitted to the
Planning Commission and the Wheeling City
Council where they were reviewed and formally
adopted as guiding principles for the
development of the Plan. (See Chapter 7.)
As the Plan was being developed, a second
round of public Plan Alternative Workshops was
conducted in the same neighborhoods in which
the first round had occurred. The purpose was
to review the data that had been collected and
to offer for discussion the preliminary concepts
which were being considered for inclusion in the
Plan. In a sense, these workshops were
intended to verify that the concerns raised in the
preliminary workshops had been adequately
addressed. Again the members of the Plan
Update Steering Committee were active
participants in these public workshops. Thus,
this Plan Update reflects the participation of a
wide cross section of the citizenry of the City of
Wheeling.
Identification of Planning Issues
Based on the public workshops, key person
interviews, and input from the Steering
Committee, a number of issues were identified
that are of concern to the citizens of Wheeling.
The most commonly repeated concerns are
briefly summarized below in no particular order:
C
Citizens perceive that Wheeling
=
s young
people are too often forced to leave the area
in search of economic opportunity. While
there is great pride in the quality of life that
can be found in Wheeling, there is frustration
centered on the lack of employment
opportunity. Thus, the need for economic
development is very widely recognized.
C
Civic leaders, and to some extent the public,
have also been concerned about a
corresponding, though less well-known,
issue related to the shortage of suitable sites
for economic development projects.
C
Citizens recognize that Downtown Wheeling
has for several years been losing its place as
the dominant shopping center in the
Wheeling metropolitan area. Clearly,
competition from malls in eastern Ohio and
from smaller retail locations along National
Road and in Woodsdale and Elm Grove
have contributed to the present situation in
Wheeling Comprehensive Plan - 1997 Update
The Burnham Group
10
downtown. However, there is no clear
agreement regarding a solution.
C
There is general agreement among citizens
that Wheeling has an important place in the
nation
=
s heritage, and that the City
possesses a large stock of historic buildings.
While many residents see the historic
buildings as one of the City
=
s most precious
assets, others see them more as obstacles
to the City
=
s progress.
C
There is general public support for the
concept of building the City of Wheeling into
a tourist and entertainment destination, in
keeping with the direction in which the City
has been moving for the last few years.
C
Citizens perceive that the City has not been
aggressive in creating a coordinated effort to
promote and market itself to the Pittsburgh
metropolitan area as well as other parts of
the nation.
C
Citizens are becoming increasingly aware
that the riverfront is an important asset for
the City which should be emphasized in
redevelopment plans.
C
Citizens point proudly to the excellent quality
of life in Wheeling featuring an excellent
school system, a low crime rate, and a fine
park system. They feel that more could be
done to market the positive features of
Wheeling as a place to live.
C
A much loved aspect of the City of Wheeling
is the network of well-defined and unique
neighborhoods each demonstrating a strong
sense of internal identity.
C
In several neighborhoods, most especially
the Woodsdale/Edgewood area, citizens are
concerned about the expansion of
commercial uses, particularly where they
abut or encroach on residential areas. Spot
zoning is cited as a prime cause of this
problem.
C
Citizens are concerned about lack of
maintenance in sidewalks and infrastructure
in the older sections of the City.
C
There is a perception that the City needs to
be more active in the area of housing
development and redevelopment, and that
much of the existing housing stock is in
serious decline. There is a perceived need
for more aggressive enforcement of building
code regulations to slow the decline of the
building stock, as well as to implement more
proactive measures to demolish derelict
buildings that compromise values in
surrounding properties.
C
Some citizens perceive that the regulation of
development in Wheeling is sometimes
inconsistent and haphazard, and that
approval of building and development in
Wheeling is sometimes difficult to negotiate.
C
Citizens perceive that the City of Wheeling
has been slow to involve itself in a serious
way in the facilitation of all types of
redevelopment, especially industrial and
commercial, through the acquisition of
property and assembly of larger sites for
development.
C
Citizens are aware of the fact that the
population of Wheeling is aging, and
concerned about the long term
consequences of this trend.
C
There is a strong sense of nostalgia among
some citizens in Wheeling who remember
the City as it was in the 1950s and 1960s.
This is often expressed as a desire to return
to that time, a desire which is sometimes an
obstacle to looking towards the future.
