PC - They Heard It First! - 6/8/06

Sometimes the Planning Commission is the last to know and sometimes the first. At their June 8 meeting, they were the first to learn of the first challenge to the new Zoning Ordinance, the same ordinance they worked so long and hard to develop.

Township Solicitor Karl Kline told them that the Township has received a zoning challenge from the owners of nearly 550 acres in the Farmland Preservation (FP) district. He said that the challenge attacks the (new) 3 acre minimum lot size. The challenge attacks the (new) 1 acre lots with equal amounts of open space (the cluster option). The challenge states that there is not adequate space for mobile home parks. And, the challenge says that there is not enough multi-family housing in Forks.

On 6/9/06, Sarah Mausolf’s first piece about it appeared in Express Times. And, the day after that, she wrote a more in depth piece. Please read her articles as well as the thought provoking 6/11/06 Express Times editorial. There is much to consider.

Kline said that he will brief the Board of Supervisors at their next meeting on June 15. He said too, that the zoning hearing must be held within 45 days of the filing. That should put this important meeting some time before July 22. Whether it will be the Zoning Hearing Board’s project or the Board of Supervisors’ is yet to be decided. Kline said that it may take more than one hearing (session) and that if it goes to the courts it will not likely be resolved in this decade.

Kline did not name names when he told the PC. Mausolf did. This is the same group that proposed the 800 plus homes in the FP district last summer (the link is to the August 2005 archives). There do seem to be more entities involved now though. There is also more land involved - although it appears that the partnership has no plans (as of the filing date) for the added 104 acre parcel on Broadway Road. A total of 3042 mobile homes, apartments, condominiums, & townhouses are now proposed on roughly the same parcels as last summer’s proposed 800 plus units.

Not mentioned at the PC meeting this night was the fact that last February, the Kings Mill, LLC partnership submitted a "by right" plan for that acreage under the old zoning ordinance. This plan is still in review by the Township Engineer, Fred Hay. That plan calls for 187 single family homes on 436 acres and conforms to the Zoning Ordinance in effect at the time of submission.

To see the scope of the new proposal in relation to the FP district, click here. If you want to see its size in relation to the entire Township, click here (large file).

The PC considered other projects this night too. Both Joe Nixon (Morning Call) and Sarah Mausolf (Express Times) wrote about the Stryker Brigade Combat Readiness Center as well as some of the other agenda items. The F.A.C. newspage has updates of all the projects on the agenda with the exception of Riverview Estates Phase IIC Land Development. Because Strausser’s representative, Sal Panto, could not stay for his turn at the lectern, the project was tabled without discussion.

Our objective is to relate what is experienced at Forks Township meetings for those who cannot attend. We are attempting to be as factual as we can. If we make a mistake, tell us via email or COMMENT here in the blog, and we will do our best to correct it. We are not perfect. We want to get it right.