On 12 December 2006 Rivendell, LLC submitted a “petition for Annexation” to the Shepherdstown Town Council. The request was to annex the “Hurney Property,” owned by Michelle Hurney. This land comprises approximately 19.1 acres, and sits between East German Street and Flowing Springs Road, opposite Day Care Center. The property is adjacent to the current Shepherdstown boundaries.

The annexation request will likely go before the town council in February 2007. According to John Mathews, the town’s zoning officer, the earliest that the annexation could resolve the issue would be later in July 2007.However, given that the West Virginia Department of Transport, Jefferson County Health Department and other government bodies will need to give input on the subdivision, he thinks the time frame may well stretch well beyond this date.

The annexation request was made possible after the Town Council adopted an annexation ordinance in February 2006. Ordinance 9-1424 is based on West Virginia state code 8-6-4. The town ordinance states simply that the Corporation of Shepherdstown may choose to annex adjacent lands into the corporate limits without holding an election.”

If the Town Council approves the annexation request, the Rivendell is likely to submit a proposal to subdivide the land and create a residential community of 68 town houses, currently called “Rivendell Subdivision.” Hurney, who declined to comment for this story, has requested that the property be zoned R-1, which would allow lots 25 feet wide and a minimum of 100 feet deep. She suggests that the subdivision will likely include four acres of open space, a community park that could include a gazebo, tennis courts and other forms of recreation. This subdivision would be submitted to the Shepherdstown Planning Commission.

In its 12th December petition to the Town Council, Rivendell offered proffers of the town of $50,000 “to be used by the Town for such purposes as the Town Council, may in its discretion, decide. The Petitioner respectfully requests that the Town consider using a portion of said cash proffer for the potential enlargement of the Town Hall and for the improvements to the local library, among others.”

In October 2004, the town commission a “feasibility study” to explore the costs and benefits of the town of the annexation (see www.Shepherdstown.us/annexation).

This study found that the one time costs of the annexation to the town would be approximately $174,000. The developer has offered to pay for all but $16,000 of these costs. These costs include the developer building a 350 feet sidewalk extension on the northern side of German Street from where it currently terminates to the start of the subdivision.

In addition, the Rivendell would pay the town $440,000 for tap fee and capacity fee for both water and sewer, based upon 68 townhouses being built.

However, the Feasibility Study cautioned that this money “should not be considered extra money, or profit to the town. Rather its purpose is to fund future capacity upgrades in the water and sewer system.”

According to John Mathews, zoning officer for the town, no one has stepped forward to oppose the annexation or potential subdivision. Why is this? He says that it might be that people believe that “when done the right way, annexation has the potential to be a good thing.”

In addition, Rivendell argues that the town would receive an increase in Video Lottery money due to the increase population of the town, as well as increased utility excise taxes. The feasibility study suggests that this might be as much as $48,812 per year. But again, the authors caution that “it is not really possible to give a reasonable estimate on what the figure might become after 2010.”

Rivendell summarizes the financial impact as follows, “Obviously the Town will substantially enhance its financial posture if the Property is annexed.” The feasibility study tends to agree, reporting that the “it appears that the project will realize an annual modest net financial gain to the Corporation.”

One impact of the subdivision will be increased traffic on German Street. Rivendell hired Wells and Associates to perform a traffic study of the project in October 2006. They found that the subdivision would create an additional 38 morning peak-hour trips and 54 afternoon/evening peak hour trips. They summarized that “the development of Rivendell Subdivision will have little to no impact on the local roadway system and therefore no additional infrastructure improvements will be necessary.”