Apr 21, 2015 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – A decision by Jefferson-Morgan Multi-Municipal Zoning Hearing Board to deny a special exception to the company that proposed building a water tanker filling station on Route 188 near Jefferson again was appealed to Greene County Court.

Bell’s Bridge LLP, which proposed constructing the filling station for tankers trucks hauling water to natural gas well sites, filed the appeal Tuesday.

The zoning hearing board voted March 31 to deny a special exception to allow the company to construct the station on 2.4 acres of land on Route 188 east of Jefferson.

It was the second time the board denied the company’s request for a special exception. The board first voted down the request last June and Bell’s Bridge appealed the decision to court.

In December, Judge Farley Toothman sent the case back to the zoning board for a new hearing, noting at the time of the June hearing, the board did not have a solicitor present.

The area where the station is proposed is zoned single-family residential. However, mineral extraction support services are permitted in that zone under the zoning ordinance with the granting of a special exception.

Many residents opposed the plan, arguing the station would be better suited in an area zoned for industry, and its location would present a hazard for traffic on Route 188.

The property is about 400 yards from the entrance to Jefferson-Morgan High School and, opponents said, in an area where a driver on Route 188 would have only a limited distance to stop upon seeing a truck exiting the site.

In the appeal filed Tuesday, the company repeated many of the arguments it presented to the board during its hearings.

The station would reduce the number of trucks passing through Jefferson, the company said. Trucks that now haul water on Route 188 to well sites west of Jefferson from filling stations to the east in Fredericktown would no longer have to pass through Jefferson or in front of the Jefferson-Morgan High School, it said.

Objections raised during the hearings concerned traffic congestion around Jefferson-Morgan High School at the beginning and end of the school day as well as risks of traffic accidents from vehicles speeding on Route 188, the company said.

The company noted, however, the state Department of Transportation had inspected the site and issued a highway occupancy permit for vehicles to enter and exit the highway at that location.

Most of the objections regarding traffic issue, the petition stated, also included “what would happen” if motorists were speeding or using their cell phones.

The petition notes the company had offered to abide by a number of conditions. They included agreeing to lease the site to only one company, posting “truck entrance” signs on Route 188 and prohibiting trucks from using the site at the beginning and end of the school day.

Bell’s Bridge is asking the court to rule that the proposed special exception is in accordance with property’s zoning designation and to either order the board to approve the special exception or vacate its order and set the matter for a new hearing.