Jul 4, 2014 3 min read

South Strabane’s planning commission is debating whether its new oil and gas zoning ordinance offers enough room to drill in the township while still protecting its neighborhoods.

The planning commission met for the second time Thursday night to discuss the ordinance, but the sparse crowd that included just three residents prompted the board to continue the hearing until its 7 p.m. Aug. 7 meeting to solicit more feedback.

The biggest question facing the commission is whether the 30-acre minimum parcel size for agriculture and industrial zones, and the 50-acre requirement for R-2 residential districts are too restrictive.

Range Resources workers who attended last month’s hearing complained to the township that the acreage standards limited their opportunities.

However, Carolyn Yagle, a planning consultant hired by the township to review the ordinance, said acreage requirement still opened most of the eastern and northern farmland locations in South Strabane for drilling.

But she added the hilly terrain and a 500-foot setback rule from the nearest property could limit the opportunities.

“It basically restricts the ability to drill with (both) the acre limit and the setback,” Yagle said. “Some of the lots are thinner so they might fit lot size but not the setback. I think there are a variety of factors (to consider) and not just acre size.”

Commissioner Laynee Zupko said the maps provided to the township by Yagle showed the zoning ordinance would provide more than enough room for drilling while restricting it from densely populated neighborhoods.

“I’m surprised there’s as much land available to use for this industry,” Zupko said. “I knew it wasn’t restrictive, but I had no idea there was this much (land).”

But she and the other members were concerned about whether the acreage standards, especially in R-2 zones, would hold up to a court challenge. Their solicitor, Tom Lonich, said the agricultural and industrial zones probably would be safe, but did not know if the same could be said for the residential areas since there were only 10 eligible parcels across the township.

Commission Chairman Fred Pozzuto reminded them the zoning ordinance allows for conditional approval, meaning township officials could set conditions on each individual well or compressor station.

“Any developer would still have to come through the process for conditional approval,” Pozzuto said. “It’s not like this ordinance is going to let them pop up a well without the approval process.”

Pozzuto said they would not change language in the ordinance over complaints from Range about it not allowing workers to sleep in temporary mobile homes on site. The ordinance also requires any driller to provide a list to the township of all subcontractors on site.

The commission could vote on the ordinance or amend it at next month’s meeting, which is open to the public. The township is writing the drilling ordinance now after the local zoning restrictions written in the state’s Act 13 legislation were overturned last year by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.