West Virginia Code 8A-5-1 – Jurisdiction of planning commissions
(a) A planning commission has the authority to:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 8A-5-1
- Governing body: means the body that governs a municipality or county. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Land development: means the development of one or more lots, tracts or parcels of land by any means and for any purpose, but does not include easements, rights-of-way or construction of private roads for extraction, harvesting or transporting of natural resources. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
- Plan: means a written description for the development of land. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
- Planning commission: means a municipal planning commission, a county planning commission, a multicounty planning commission, a regional planning commission or a joint planning commission. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
- Plat: means a map of the land development that becomes its official recorded representation in the office of the clerk of the county commission where a majority of the land to be developed lies. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
(1) Approve a minor subdivision or land development application within its jurisdiction;
(2) Exempt an application for a minor subdivision or land development within its jurisdiction; and
(3) Approve a major subdivision or land development application within its jurisdiction.
(b) The staff of a planning commission has the authority to approve a minor subdivision or land development application within its jurisdiction, if granted such authority by the governing body in the subdivision and land development ordinance.
(c) If a subdivision or land development plan and plat cannot be approved through the minor subdivision or land development process, then an applicant must use the major subdivision or land development approval process.
(d) If a governing body has adopted detailed standards for final plats as part of a subdivision and land development ordinance, the planning commission may delegate to its staff the authority to approve preliminary or provisional land development plan or subdivision plat that is consistent with the adopted standards for final plats and the requirements of the adopted subdivision and land development ordinance.
(e) The planning commission may delegate to its staff the authority to determine completeness, phasing, changes, and technical review for major subdivisions or land development applications, if a governing body has adopted detailed process provisions, procedures, or checklists for major subdivisions or land development applications: Provided, That a staff review does not take longer than would a planning commission review. Any applicant may request, in writing to the planning commission, that such a delegated review shall revert to a planning commission review, in which case the time required for review begins at the date of the request.