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I'm surprised that this hasn't been discussed here yet...
What are your thoughts on Rockwool, the proposed insulation manufacturer that is building near Ranson/Charles Town? This is a huge political issue in the WV Panhandle, with some people opposing the project on environmental grounds, and some advocating it on economic development grounds.
Do you think it will hurt home values and the overall attractiveness of the area for new residents?
Absolutely. Jefferson County is not a heavy industry economy. If you look at the illegal annexations and rezoning to bring them here along with the closed door project meetings this thing stinks all over. Especially since they will be paying very little in taxes due to the local government being the leaseholder and them making some payments until the government ultimately signs the lease over to them in lieu of taxes.
Heavy Industry will certainly hurt property values, especially since the unemployment rate in JeffCo is very low and this company will only bring a handful of $35k/year jobs where the medium household income in the county is ~$80,000.
I personally know a few realtors who have had many sales fall through when they learned about Rockwool and the planned giant smokestacks and others who were considering to live here but removed the panhandle from their consideration.
Absolutely. Jefferson County is not a heavy industry economy. If you look at the illegal annexations and rezoning to bring them here along with the closed door project meetings this thing stinks all over. Especially since they will be paying very little in taxes due to the local government being the leaseholder and them making some payments until the government ultimately signs the lease over to them in lieu of taxes.
Heavy Industry will certainly hurt property values, especially since the unemployment rate in JeffCo is very low and this company will only bring a handful of $35k/year jobs where the medium household income in the county is ~$80,000.
I personally know a few realtors who have had many sales fall through when they learned about Rockwool and the planned giant smokestacks and others who were considering to live here but removed the panhandle from their consideration.
That's sad. I imagine that those buyers will probably look in Virginia now.
Something interesting is spawning from this whole thing. A Jefferson County group is challenging the legality of the PILOT program and if they succeed, they will hurt the rest of the state in the process.
Rockwool is just the start of many industrial plants. They planned on building the gas line into the panhandle to bring more low income industry jobs. Then their plan is to transport unemployed West Virginians to the panhandle to work.
Without Jefferson County, WV will literally crumble. Jefferson County is the powerhouse of the state and Charleston continues to screw it over. We have the lowest unemployment, the highest salaries and the most opportunity. Yet, they build the second largest pollutant to our county because somehow we need jobs. For one, those are too low paying for residents of Jefferson unless you're in high school. Second, why not build it where they actually need jobs in WV? The whole thing makes no sense and dirty, dirty politics played a role that everybody can see.
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