The Jefferson County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on August 12 to review a preliminary plat for the Birdhill Meadows subdivision planned for 195 acres off Route 480 in Kearneysville.
Plans for 720 Homes
Lennar, a home building company that operates nationwide, has plans to build 720 houses on this site. The topic for discussion on April 12 is Phase 1 of the project, which shows 115 townhomes and 104 single family homes. The plans show three additional phases for a total of 396 townhomes and 324 single family detached homes, plus a fifth phase that is labeled “light industrial.”
From the description in the plans, the project appears to be similar to Lennar’s Shenandoah Springs development pictured above, with a mix of townhomes and small-lot detached homes.
A Brief History
The Birdhill Meadows property was previously part of an apple orchard. In 2021 the County Commission approved a change in zoning from “rural” to “residential growth” for this parcel. In May 2024, the Planning Commission approved a concept plan for the project, with several requirements, including fencing and buffers between the project and its rural neighbors.
After the concept plan approval, the next step at the Planning Commission is for the applicant to submit a preliminary plat that includes all of the site work details for review (roads, water lines, sewer lines, stormwater management, etc.). US Homes LLC, the company doing the site work for the project, submitted a preliminary plat in early 2025, but the Planning Commission staff determined that it was incomplete at that time because the company had not yet received approval for its stormwater management plan (for an example of why these plans are important, you can read about the problems with the stormwater management at the Blake solar project).
The WV DEP recently completed its review and has approved the applicant’s stormwater management plan for the entire Birdhill Meadows site. [link]
Public Comment Limits
This August 12 public hearing will be the first one conducted under the rules recently revised by the Planning Commission that set an overall 90-minute limit on public comment for each hearing item. Individual speakers will still have up to 3 minutes to speak during the public comment period, but the chair of the Planning Commission will be able to end comments after a total of 90 minutes of speaking time has elapsed.
During the Planning Commission’s deliberations about limiting public comment, several of the commissioners complained about public comments repeating the same point and encouraged commenters to join together to show their support for each point, rather than having each speaker repeat similar comments. As an example of what they find helpful, several commissioners recently referenced the Jefferson County Foundation’s comments. This non-profit organization researches land use issues and has provided detailed briefings to the Planning Commission on other projects. Its website has details and analysis of this project. The Foundation says it plans to update this information next week after it reviews the engineering plans. Foundation representatives also said it will have a comment portal to assist residents with submitting written comments to the Planning Commission.
Published in the Observer Weekly 2025 July 24.
By Steve Pearson