Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting February 12, 2014

Transcription

1 Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting February 12, 2014 The Perry Township Planning Commission meeting was held on February 12, 2014, at the Perry The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Chair Bill Bennett. Commission members present were: Jan Ditzian, Kate Namolek, Warren Headley, and Sandy Liebhold. The initial goal of this meeting was to perform the annual reorganization of the Planning Commission, as required by Pennsylvania law. Reorganization Business 1. Election of Chair. Warren nominated Bill for the position of Chairman, but Bill declined the nomination. Jan then nominated Warren for the chairman position. The nomination was seconded and Warren Headley was accepted by acclimation as the Commission Chair for Election of Vice-Chair. Bill was then nominated as Vice-Chair, seconded, and accepted by acclimation. 3. Election of Secretary. Jan was nominated by Sandy for the position of Commission Secretary, seconded by Bill, and accepted by acclimation. The reorganization meeting ended at 6:09 PM. The regular meeting for February commenced immediately following the reorganization meeting. It was called to order at 6:10 PM by Chair Warren Headley. Old business 1. Zoning Ordinance. Now that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has passed its decisions about oil and gas exploration, we are able to complete our Zoning Ordinance proposal in preparation for a town meeting on the document. Following this, the Ordinance will be passed to the Township Supervisors. The Ordinance lacks a list of specific zones or areas where oil and gas exploration will and will not be allowed, and it lacks the categorization of whether such exploration is to be accepted at all times, or only with Zoning Board Approval. Jan will rework the Zoning Ordinance document, using the PSATS model. The basic of this model is already in the latest version of the Zoning Ordinance, so he must add the specific zones. Jan said that he would work on this aspect of the document, and send copies of the relevant revisions to Commission member and to the Supervisors. Jan suggested that he use specific wording in this revision, but to endeavor to make it easily changeable after review by the Commission. here was a further recommendation from the Commission to put allowances for oil and gas exploration and extraction only in Agricultural, Industrial, and Commercial zones. 2. Structure of Zoning Board. Supervisor Ron suggested that we begin to address the structure and membership of the Zoning Board. It was noted that the Zoning Board structure is already in the draft Zoning Ordinance, but we will review this as well. 3. Posting Commission Minutes on the Internet. Sandy said that he will speak to Lila about the procedure to put our minutes on the Perry Township web site. This is done by ing them to the appropriate person at the County government. 4. Representation on the County Planning Commission. Bill suggested that we send representatives from our Commission to the County Planning Commission meetings to keep watch for decisions that may affect our Township.

2 The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 PM. Our next meeting will be on March 11, Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting March 12, 2014 The Perry Township Planning Commission meeting was held on March 12, 2014, at the Perry The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Chair Warren Headley. Commission members present were: Jan Ditzian, Kate Namolek, and Bill Bennett. Also present were Perry Township Supervisors Ron Howard, Frank Basile, and Buck Kennedy, and Township Solicitor Linda Chambers. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss points about the Zoning Ordinance that need clarification, now that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has made its rulings about Marcellus Shale and its impact on municipal lawmaking. Since Solicitor Linda Chambers was present, the meeting was turned into a discussion. Points Discussed 1. Linda said that is not necessary to permit extraction activities anywhere in the Township, other than by special exception. The members of the Commission agreed that letting the Zoning Board make a decision about each proposed activity gave future residents of the Township control over the nature of Township development. We will therefore allow oil and gas development only by special exception. 2. Linda suggested that we should add definitions for oil wells, conventional gas wells, and unconventional gas wells to the glossary of terms in the Zoning Ordinance. There are acceptable definitions in PSATS documentation, which she can send to us. 3. Linda pointed out that any new regulations for extraction should go in the section already established for this. This is Section 610 of the Zoning Ordinance. 4. Linda also pointed out that if we wanted a decision to be made by the Planning Commission rather than the Zoning Board, we should make it a Conditional Use. 5. Since we were already discussing the Zoning Ordinance, Bill noted that mobile homes were permitted in R2 zones. We will examine this issue next month when we also resolve the gas and oil considerations. It may be that such homes should be allowed in Commercial zones, since mobile home parks are allowed there. 6. Linda noted that we have the terms amusement and amusement facility, and that they are probably redundant. 7. There was dicussion that Robbie Matesic's assistant, Crystal, is writing aproposal for money for infrastructure in the County. We might discuss with Robbie that sidewalks are of interest to us. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 PM. Our next meeting will be on April 9, Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting April 9, 2014 The Perry Township Planning Commission meeting was held on March 9, 2014, at the Perry The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Vice-Chair Bill Bennett. Commission members present were: Jan Ditzian and Kate Namolek. Also present was Perry Township Supervisor Ron Howard.

3 1. Jan pointed out that he had been unable to get a response from Solicitor Linda Chambers about the definitions that she told us to put into our Zoning Ordinance. He showed copies of six unanswered s he sent to her. 2. Manufactured/mobile Homes in Zoning Ordinance. We discussed the inclusion/exclusion of manufactured/mobile homes from various zones in the draft Zoning Ordinance. We first determined that trailers made prior to 1967 are not permitted as residences anywhere in the Township. We decided to remove them from R-2 zones, where we had originally included them. We added them as Special Exceptions in Commercial, Industrial, and Industrial/Commercial zones. Trailer parks will also be allowed as Special Exceptions in these zones. We discussed the general idea that using Special Exception for all such homes would allow future Township officers to control the development of the Township. This was determined to be a better approach than trying to predict exactly where such housing would fit. The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 P.M. The next Perry Township Planning Commission meeting will be held on May 14, Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting May 14, 2014 The Perry Township Planning Commission meeting was held on May 14, 2014, at the Perry The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Chair Warren Headley. Commission members present were: Jan Ditzian, Kate Namolek, and Sandy Liebowitz. 1. Minutes. The April 9 minutes were read and accepted. Jan will try another method of sending them to those Commissioners who are unable to open them from Mobile/manufactured Housing Zoning. In response to a question by Warren, the changes made to the zoning of mobile/manufactured housing were discussed. It was confirmed that mobile/manufacturing is allowed in Agricultural (A1) zones as a permitted principal use. A1 zones, at present, are about 90% of the Township area. Pros and cons of restricting them to special exception status in R-2 zones were discussed, but the Commission seems to feel that this restriction is not overly great, and that the Zoning Board would allow such homes where appropriate. Supervisor Frank Basile pointed out that he lives in such a home because of its affordability. 3. Extractive Industries Processing and Storage in Zoning Ordinance. Jan said that he had finally received the definitions and additional copy from the PSATS database related to Extractive Industries Processing and Storage. This information came from Township Solicitor Linda Chambers. The current revision of the Zoning Ordinance has much of this information, but not some of the additional definitions. Jan said that he would make changes. He will disseminate the relevant parts to the Commissioners for comment and review prior to the next Planning Commission meeting. He will bring a revised copy of the Ordinance to the next meeting for us to review prior to submission to the Supervisors, and preparatory to another public meeting. Sandy pointed out that any new use specified in the definitions or the new section on Extractive Industries Processing and Storage must now be included in the appropriate zones under uses. Jan will make the initial changes

4 Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting July 9, 2014 The Perry Township Planning Commission meeting was held on July 9, 2014, at the Perry The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by Chair Warren Headley. Commission members present were: Jan Ditzian, Kate Namolek, Sandy Liebhold, and Bill Bennett. The minutes of the June 14 meeting were read and accepted. 1. Zoning Ordinance. Township Solicitor Linda Chambers will present changes to the draft that was submitted to the Supervisors by the next meeting. The Supervisors have the document, and are reviewing it. They will keep us informed of changes. Linda determined that our Commission did not need another public review of the document. The Supervisors will conduct the second public review. 2. Road Repair. Haines Ridge Road and Haines Hill Road were paved over the last week, following a long period of heavy use by logging and gas exploration companies. The Supervisors feel that the quality of the repair may not be equal to other recent repairs, but the bid price was extremely low. The Supervisors now have a benchmark of the quality of this low-price bidder, and will take that into consideration at the next opportunity to have a road repaired. New Business 3. Sidewalk Plan. Sandy brought in a plan for sidewalk repair in Mount Morris, and hopes to find a funding source for this. The repairs could be done by an outside company or by the Supervisors, with State approval. Sidewalk repair is needed along Locust and Main Streets, both of which are under State purview. Most of the work would be repair to sidewalks that are over 30 years old, but Sandy hopes to extend the sidewalks all the way to the BFS service station located at the on-ramp to I-79 S. 4. Pharmacy at Cornerstone Care. Cornerstone Care has completed construction of a pharmacy within its building. All that remains is to get approval from the PA Department of Environmental Protection. All medical and drug licenses have been obtained. Cornerstone is looking for a full-time pharmacist to staff the facility, which will serve the general public, not only Cornerstone patients. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 PM. The next meeting will be on August 13, 2014.

5 Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting August 13, 2014 The Perry Township Planning Commission meeting was held on August 13, 2014, at the Perry The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Vice Chair Bill Bennett. Commission members present were: Jan Ditzian, Kate Namolek, and Sandy Liebhold. Also present were Perry Township Supervisors Ron Howard, Frank Basile, and Buck Kennedy Zoning. Township Solicitor Linda Chambers suggests that the Zoning Hearing Board consist of three (3) regular members plus two (2) alternates, rather than five regular members plus alternates as proposed in the draft. After discussion, our Commission agreed with this change. Linda also found some spelling and wording corrections, and she requested that we forward to her a copy of the draft zoning document in Microsoft Word format. Our secretary, Jan, will take care of this. 2. Repair of Haines Ridge Road. Jan complimented the Supervisors for having arranged for the repaving of Haines Ridge Road and Haines Hill Road, following logging and gas drilling activity in this area. The Supervisors said that they are still not satisfied with the work, and are still in talks with the company that did the paving. One problem is that the berm of the road creates too steep a drop along the sides of the road. 3. Sidewalks. Sandy had prepared a plan for sidewalk repair in downtown Mount Morris that was reviewed by the Commission. He asked where to look for money for this project, and was told to contact both our State Senator, Tim Solobay, and our State Representative, Pam Snyder. We have been informed that there is money for infrastructure improvement at the township level due to the fees for gas and oil extraction. Sandy also asked about arranging a meeting with PADoT, since much of the area to be improved is actually State right-of-way. It is expected that PADoT will agree to improvements that they do not have to fund, but we realize that their bureaucracy will take time to grant their OK, and will have specific requirements for how the work is to be performed. New Business 4. Recycling in Perry Township. Supervisor Ron Howard informed us that the recycling station that was located at the Perry Township building is being repaired, and there is no way to determine how long this will take, since it is in the county's possession. However, Ron was approached by the Monongalia County, WV, Solid Waste Authority, "Recycling Works in Mon County" organization, which asked to put a recycling station in Perry Township. All agreed that this looks like a good idea, and Ron is going to ask the State Line

6 Inn to provide space in the unused lot next to their building or in their parking lot. The Monongalia County personnel will take care of emptying the station regularly, and our supervisors will assist when needed to keep the area straightened up. Further discussion revealed that, while Mon County does not accept glass for recycling, this commodity has become nearly worthless, and Greene County soon will not accept it, so we will not be worse off than we would have been. Our recycling citizens will have to separate their items into the groupings that Mon County uses, and these are posted on the recycling station dumpsters. The next Planning Commission meeting will be on September 10, 2014 The meeting was adjourned at 6:47 PM. Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting September 9, 2014 The Perry Township Planning Commission meeting was held on September 9, 2014, at the Perry The meeting was called to order at 6:05 PM by Chair Warren Headley. Commission members present were: Jan Ditzian, Kate Namolek, and Sandy Liebhold. 1. Sidewalks. Sandy made contact with Dave Williams, of PADot about our intention to seek money for sidewalk improvement in Mount Morris. Another PADot official, Vince Komaka, will contact Sandy, who will try to meet with them. Sandy will inform the Township Supervisors and the Planning Commission members to interested parties can participate in this meeting. Since the sidewalks run along several streets that are under PADot supervision, we intend to work with them in this project. Dave Williams thanked Sandy for contacting him early in the project. 2. Recycling Station. The Township recycling bin has been repaired and is in place at the head of the driveway for the Perry Township Building. The Supervisors also contacted Mon County Recycling, and they will have a bin available in October. They have some restrictions about where they will put the bin, and they want to choose the location, which is acceptable to the Supervisors. We have to be careful about how we deal with them, because a Perry Township resident already called them, making false statements about how our Supervisors felt, and they were upset. The Supervisors are doing their best to undo the damage done to relations between Perry Township and Mon County Recycling. 3. Traffic Study for I-79 Entrance and Exit Traffic. Sandy asked whether the traffic study that was planned a while ago, when there appeared to be a lot of activity at the industrial park at

7 that interchange, will still take place. Robbie Matesic, who told us about it, will be at our November meeting and we can ask the question at that time. 4. Kiger Hill Tire Dump Removal. Physical work on the Kiger Hill tire dump has not yet begun, but legal work is underway. Frank said that he hopes that there will be activity on the dump by the end of October. The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 PM. The next meeting will be on October 8, Minutes of the Perry Township Planning Commission Meeting November 12, 2014 The Perry Township Planning Commission meeting was held on November 12, 2014, at the Perry The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Chair Warren Headley. Commission members present were: Jan Ditzian, Kate Namolek, and Sandy Liebhold. 1. Tire Cleanup. The Supervisors reported that Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) personnel were at the Kiger Hill tire dump site collecting data to allow the project to go forward. PADEP told the Supervisors that there was one other project to complete and then they would tackle this one. 2. Zoning. The Draft Zoning Ordinance is in the Township Solicitor's office. The Supervisors will meet with her next Wednesday, and expect to receive her comments and changes at that time. 3. New Recycling Collection Point. The Supervisors followed up with Monongalia County, WV, concerning the placement of a Mon County collection dumpster in our Township. They discovered that Mon County Recycling is suffering a shortage of funds, and no longer expects to be able to locate a recycling station in our Township. Their official also complained that a Perry Township citizen had taken them to task for not moving quickly enough, and had misrepresented that she (the citizen) spoke for the Perry Township Supervisors. Perry Township will still have its own Greene ARC recycling dumpster, which still accepts glass for recycling. 4. Sidewalk Improvements. The Commission discussed where to look for funds to take the first step in improving sidewalks, which will probably be a study. It was recommended that we

8 consult with Robbie Matesic, Executive Director of the Greene County Department of Economic Development. The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 PM. The next meeting will be on December 10, 2014.