Jan 25, 2024 By Paul Paterra 3 min read

A request for a variance that would have permitted a horticultural therapy business in East Washington was denied by the borough’s zoning hearing board.

Without citing a reason, the three board members – Chairman Thomas Vreeland, Gary Stout and Oscar Smith (who participated by phone) – voted Wednesday to deny the variance request.

Vreeland declined to comment on the board’s decision.

Rebecca J. Sohn requested the variance to operate the nonprofit Family Institute of Horticultural Therapy at 705 E. Beau St. in a district that is zoned residential. The mission of the business was to use horticultural therapy to help those coping with the loss of a child.

Horticultural therapy is described by the American Horticultural Association as using gardening or plant-based activities led by a trained therapist to achieve therapeutic treatment.The plan was not only to provide therapy, but also serve as a training ground for those looking to obtain a license in this type of therapy.

Sohn, a behavioral scientist whose only daughter died at the age of 25, said shortly after the vote that she did not intend to appeal the decision to the Court of Common Pleas, something she has 30 days to do.

“I appreciate the effort put forth by the council and the members of the zoning board,” Sohn said. “I regret that there’s not an opportunity to establish something that is so beneficial to people and would preserve the beauty of the greenspace.”

Testimony on the request was heard Jan. 5 with a number of residents expressing their concerns about the possibility of the business moving into the borough at that location.

Chief among those concerns were the tax implications of the property, increased traffic and spot zoning, which refers to a specific property being zoned differently than surrounding areas.

Dawn Petrosky, borough tax collector, said that day the borough and the Washington School District would lose more than $600,000 in tax revenue over 50 years if the variance was granted.

Sohn, whose purchase of the property was contingent upon receipt of the variance, said Jan. 5 that she intended to live in the facility and thus would have been paying all required taxes. She also said there would never have been many people at the property and at most three cars at one time.

A second motion, appealing the determination of zoning officer Gerald Coleman concerning the property, also was denied by each of the three members of the zoning hearing board.

Coleman’s determination stated that Sohn’s plans for the property did not fit in the Washington-East Washington multi-municipal zoning ordinance, which was adopted in 2017.

Attorney Eric VanKirk of Peacock Keller, who is representing Sohn, said Jan. 5 that the request did align with the ordinance since the business would have been a secondary use of the property.