Nov 16, 2017 2 min read

In a 3-2 vote Tuesday night, South Strabane Township supervisors postponed a public hearing on a proposed amendment to remove light manufacturing from the C-3 mixed-use district.

Moments before the public hearing was scheduled to begin, Supervisor Bob Weber made a motion to postpone the hearing “so all newly elected board members can participate in the hearing and vote.”

Supervisors Ed Mazur and Jack Keisling lost in the primary election and will not be on the board in January. In their places will be J. Bracken Burns and Richard Luketich, who were elected to the board in the general election last week.

Mazur and Keisling voted against postponing the hearing.

“What’s the matter boys, you afraid to accept responsibilities for your actions?” Mazur asked the board.

Many residents are concerned about the amendment because of its relation to Chapman Properties, owners of a section of undeveloped land near Tanger Outlets. Chapman filed a lawsuit against the township last month, claiming the township blocked plastics manufacturer Ensinger Inc. from developing on part of the site by not taking over Tanger Boulevard and the proposed Southport Road as township roads.

Ensinger decided to remain in North Strabane Township and terminate its deal with Chapman. Chapman’s petition seeks compensation for losses in that deal and for the township’s rejection of Chapman’s conditional-use application to build a light manufacturing and office facility that would have become Ensinger’s North American headquarters.

The plans called for a $40 million complex on 30 acres of C-3 commercially zoned land. In 2015, Chapman successfully petitioned the township supervisors to add light manufacturing to C-3 commercial districts to allow for Ensinger’s development.

The public hearing for the amendment initially had been scheduled for Oct. 30, but was rescheduled for Tuesday. Now, it again has been rescheduled for the second regularly scheduled meeting in January.