Controversy surrounds zoning issue
Steve Duran said the proposed rezoning of Robinson Township would impose heavy restrictions on his farm that would be “detrimental” to his livelihood.
Duran was just one resident – of 100 in attendance – who decried proposed changes to the township’s zoning ordinance and zoning map during a public hearing at the municipal building Monday. The proposed zoning ordinance would permit oil and gas development in outlined “overlay districts,” which would overlap in pre-existing residential and industrial districts. It also would rezone the township, which was primarily composed of rural residential land, into various districts including agricultural and special conservation zones.
Supervisors did not vote on the proposal during the regular meeting held after the hearing. A special meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at the municipal building for supervisors to consider modifying the proposal, but they will not vote on the proposed ordinance as it currently stands, said township manager Michael Behrens.
Solicitor John Smith said township officials have been working for several years on a comprehensive plan to make zoning ordinance changes. Richard Grossman, a community planning consultant in Grove City, wrote the proposed zoning ordinance, and Thomas Graney of GCCA Planning in New Wilmington designed the proposed map with overlay districts.
Smith described an overlay district as additional regulatory standards that are superimposed on existing zoning districts to “provide more flexibility to the township to look at the existing uses in land space in the district versus just the (conditional) uses prescribed by the district itself.”
However, Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella said the proposed overlay districts would “basically end drilling” in the township because it would severely limit where the natural gas drilling company could operate. He said the new process to apply for drilling permits also would be more unpredictable.
“From our perspective, what they’re proposing would, in effect, shut down drilling in that township, and I don’t think they have the right to be able to do that with their ordinance,” Pitzarella said.
Duran, who will be starting a term as supervisor in January, does not want to see the proposed ordinance passed in a hurry. Duran, who has a 70-acre farm in northern Robinson Township, cited several sections of the proposed ordinance that he thought were incompatible with farmers’ needs.
Duran said his property would be classified in the new agricultural conservation zone, which is “meant to facilitate the conservation of areas of high-quality farmland,” according to the proposed ordinance. Other properties would be reclassified as a special conservation zone, having a “high concentration of floodplains, steep slopes, wetlands and other environmental hazard areas,” causing some residents to worry their property value may diminish due to this new definition.
Duran cited restrictive regulations on farming in the proposed ordinance, including the stipulation that pens and runs shall be no closer than 300 feet from neighboring lot lines, and subdivisions of lots “shall also be limited in the future.”
Like Duran, Rodger Kendall, a newly elected township supervisor who will begin his term in January, does not want the proposed ordinance to be passed. Kendall signed a petition with more than 250 signatures, organized by resident John Campbell, to demand that supervisors refrain from making any decisions until the new board starts in January. Mark Brositz, vice chairman, will be the only supervisor retaining his seat on the board. Brian Coppola and Terrance Love will be ending their terms in December.
Kendall said the proposed ordinance is convoluted and reads like “stereo instructions,” filled with loopholes and contradictions.
“It doesn’t just affect one particular group of people,” Kendall said. “It hinders everybody that owns a piece of property.”