Eastern Panhandle United

Most land in West Virginia is unzoned, and a 2025 law moved data center approval away from counties entirely.

This page explains what the law actually requires, what it does not require, and what happened in each case so far. Where the law is ambiguous, we say so rather than choosing a reading.

HB 2014

Documented

What the statute establishes.

Placeholder. certification pathways the statute creates, what each one authorizes, Cite the code section directly so a reader can check.

Source: [code citation, link to text]

Documented

What local review the statute displaces.

Placeholder. which local approvals no longer apply, which county powers survive.

Source: [code citation]

Documented

Public records exemptions.

Placeholder. scope of the exemption and what remains disclosable.

Source:

HB 2002

HB 4983

Zoning in West Virginia

Zoning coverage in West Virginia etc...

Land use management by county, host counties shown
County Unzoned Zoned Protected
West Virginia (statewide)[%][%][%]
Berkeley[%][%][%]
Jefferson[%][%][%]
Morgan[%][%][%]

Figures are percentages of county land area and sum to 100 percent. Source: WV Zoning Atlas

Documented

How a West Virginia county adopts zoning.

Placeholder.the actual statutory process.

Source: [code citation]

What happened, and when

INTRO ETC...

  1. [Month Year]

    [What happened]

    Placeholder. One or two sentences.

    Source: [document, agency]

  2. [Month Year]

    [What happened]

    Placeholder.

    Source: [document, agency]

  3. [Month Year] to [Month Year]

    No public engagement identified in this interval.

    Placeholder. meaningful gap

Notice and transparency

Legal notice and effective notice are different things. A requirement can be satisfied in full while almost no affected resident learns of it.

Documented

What notice was actually given.

Placeholder. Walk through what was published, where, and when.-- FIGURE

Source: [document, date]

How to comment on a pending permit

Placeholder. agencies that accept public comment, where their notices are published, how to sign up for alerts, and what a comment needs to contain to be entered into the record.