Donegal supervisors send zoning plan back to planning commission
Donegal Township supervisors Wednesday night voted unanimously to send a proposed zoning ordinance back to the township planning commission for further review.
Supervisors had previously approved the ordinance, but it has been challenged in court by Donegal Freedom Group, an organization of residents opposed to zoning. The board had been planning to vote on the zoning ordinance again Wednesday.
Donegal has never had zoning, and is one of the few municipalities in Washington County to not have it today.
Freedom Group most recently sought a court injunction against the zoning plan, and was scheduled to have a hearing Wednesday afternoon before Judge Damon Faldowski in Washington County Common Pleas Court. The hearing did not take place. The township offered late proposals on the matter, and attorneys Chris Furman and Michael Cruny – representing the citizens group and the township, respectively – discussed them with their clients.
Tammi Iams, of Freedom Group, said the group agreed to the stipulation that the board would send the zoning ordinance to the planning commission Wednesday night.
Supervisor Doug Teagarden said the board has been trying to institute a plan for more than two years. He said the frequent court challenges have affected municipal finances, causing the general fund to dwindle.
“They’ve broken us,” he said Wednesday morning. “We’re laying off people, looking for ways to cut expenses.”
Donegal’s board of supervisors will expand to five in January, with four new members joining the only holdover, Teagarden.
Those four new supervisors are Freedom Group members who were elected in November and will assume office in the new year: Democrats Kathleen Wright Croft and Iams and Republicans Michael Smith and Ed Shingle Jr.
At least one incoming supervisor has said at a public meeting that the board will quickly abolish the zoning plan.
The current supervisors had proposed an ordinance that would have reduced their pay, but after being challenged in court on that matter by the Freedom Group, they agreed to take no action on the issue Wednesday night. All four of the incoming supervisors attended the hearing Wednesday and said they would donate their pay until, Smith said, “the township gets back on its feet.”