(5:30 Ð 7:30 PM)
Attended and reported by
Ted Robertson.
This entire session was devoted to the strategic planning
process. George Wolfe had given the Township Supervisors and Staff Supervision
a list of approximately 50 projects to prioritize. Mr. Wolfe reviewed the
consolidated lists at this meeting. After much discussion of the projects
having the higher priorities, it was decided to repeat the prioritization process
with a reduced number of projects. It is expected to tie this strategic
planning process into the township's yearly budget.
There are several road improvement projects on the high
priority list. Unfortunately, some of these projects involve Penn Dot. Nye's
Road, for one, has been in process for more than a year. Despite the fact that
this project has been put on Penn Dot's first 4-year plan, it will be several
years before construction will begin.
Observation & Question: Should SWAN get involved with or without the Township to try to get these projects completed by Penn Dot in a more realistic time frame. Discussion item for next SWAN meeting?
SUSQUEHANNA TOWNSHIP BOARD
OF COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC HEARING
Attended and reported by
Watson Fisher.
The required public hearing was held concerning the proposed
zoning change of the 33-acre portion of the 48-acre parcel of Stray Winds Farm,
that is in Susquehanna Township from R-1, low density residential, to R-2,
medium density residential. The Planning Commission had approved the zoning
change on June 26, 2006 and following this public hearing will be considered
for approval by the Board of Commissioners, possibly on September 14, 2006.
Under the current R-1 zoning, the 33-acre parcel would be
limited to 56 homes, while under the R-2 zone it could hold 74 homes. Mark
DiSanto made the same presentation he had made to the Planning Commission
stressing that the R-2 zoning would be consistent with the current
Comprehensive Plan, consistent with the current zoning of the rest of the
development in lower Paxton Township and with smaller lots, would result in
almost 20% open space. He again promised to pay the entire cost of the
intersection improvements at Progress Avenue and Paxton Church Road, estimated
at $111,000. He stated he would execute a Developer's Agreement with the
Township promising to pay for the traffic improvements and to limit the number
of homes in the 33 acre parcel to 74, even though the R-2 zoning would allow
him to build up to 4 per acre. The Solicitor stated that such an agreement
could bind him to the payments, but not the number of homes. Mark said his
verbal promise on this would be held.
Neighbors' comments on the rezoning concerned mainly ongoing
sewer and storm water problems, but included whether or not this agreed with
the Comprehensive Plan regarding land use and the reduction in the township of
R-1 areas for larger home sites.
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP BOARD
OF SUPERVISOR MEETING
(7:30 PM)
Attended by Ted Robertson,
Eric Epstein and Eileen Hurley. Reported by Eileen Hurley.
Old Business:
1. Ordinance 06-07; Repealing certain fire suppression
requirements in Chapter 90, Article III, Section 90-7 (F) of the Codified
Ordinances that are more restrictive than the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction
Code. (Passed 3 to 1)
2. Action on one bid for construction of certain facilities
(pavilion, restroom, basket ball, volley ball, hockey, in line skating) at
Thomas B George, Jr. Park. $250,000 was budgeted three years ago, the estimated
cost would be $307,000 and this bid came in at $429,715. (Voted down)
New Business: Subdivision and Land Development:
1. Preliminary/final subdivision plan for 5710 Union Deposit
Road, Bottom Line Contracting (06-02). This is eight lots, with public water
and sewer on a cul de sac. (Passed 4-0)
2. Preliminary/final land development plan for 2,
one-story office buildings at 4075 Linglestown Road (06-09). (Passed 4-0)
LOWER PAXTON BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS/PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP
(5:30 Ð 7:30 PM)
Attended and reported by
Ted Robertson.
All of the business at this meeting concerned requests by
numerous property owners to have their properties zoning changed from that
designated by the newly enacted Comprehensive Plan to a zoning more applicable
under the new plan. Most of these change request were covered in the report of
the August 8, 2006 Board of Supervisors Workshop.
The Planning Commission and Staff will review these requests
and forward their findings to the Board of Supervisors at a later date.
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP BOARD
OF SUPERVISORS WORKSHOP
(7:30 Ð 9:45 PM)
Attended and reported by Ted
Robertson.
1.) Sheetz, Inc. representatives presented a plan to erect a
Sheetz convenience store on the current Geo's Restaurant site. (Northwest
corner of Blue Ribbon Avenue on US Rte 22) This will be a 5,000 square foot
facility with 7 gas pumps and a "no-touch" car wash. A concern was
expressed for the safety of students going from Holy Name to Sheetz.
2.) There was a question concerning the numbers of EDU's to
be submitted to the state under the Township's Act 537. As a result of ongoing
development and the inherent zoning variance requests, these numbers are in a
constant state of flux. The biggest question left unanswered was, "What is
the reserve number of EDU's for the Paxton Creek Watershed?"
3.) Bill Hornug was handling the procedure of development of
the Martin Shoffstall property on the west side of Devonshire Road opposite the
Paxton Towne Centre. There is a legal question of whether Mr. Shoffstall is
required to provide a connector to a stub road on the adjoining Wilshire
development.
4.) The Township has received two proposals for workers
compensation insurance for 2006 - 2007. The new proposal is from the
Susquehanna Municipal Trust Fund and has a "potential" of saving the
Township some money over the current insurance supplier for the past 20+ years.
5.) The South Central Emergency Medical Services request for
funds from the Township was reviewed. A significant increase was requested.
Several alternatives were discussed including; donating facilities and
equipment; taking over the operation in LP Twp.
6.) The review of a model ordinance for regulation of wind energy
facilities was tabled due to time constraints.
7. The lone bid price for several facilities at George Park came up for discussion again. The bid price was almost $200,000 over the original engineers estimate. It was decided to hold off a decision on rejecting the bid until the end of the 60-day limit allowed by law.
September 13, 2006
LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
Attended by Watson Fisher
and Eric Epstein. Reported by Watson Fisher.
1.) Michael True (Sheetz) - Conditional use
application for a proposed Sheetz store at 6290 Allentown Blvd., which is on
the North side of Allentown Blvd., just east of the Holy Name Church and
school, on the corner of Blue Ribbon Ave. The 5.3-acre lot will be subdivided
into a 2.5-acre lot for the store and a 2.8-acre lot behind. The requested
conditional use is for 7 gasoline pumps for 14 cars and a car wash. The
application met all conditional use requirements and the board unanimously
recommended approval of the request.
2.) Astoria Knoll - Preliminary/final subdivision
plan for 23.8 acre parcel at the northwest corner of the intersection of Lyters
Lane and Page Road, zoned R-1, into 39 single family home lots. A concern was
raised about who would maintain the planting areas at the entrance to the
development since there would be no Homeowners Association. Adjacent lot owners
typically will not accept the responsibility and the Township does not want to
accept the responsibility either. Another concern which has implications for
other developments as well, was the requirement in the new zoning ordinance to
provide a visitor's parking space for each home on the lot or on the street
which can not be in the driveway in front of a garage door where the car would
need to be moved in order for an owner's car to move in or out of the garage.
This is and will be a problem for developments with smaller, narrower lots and
narrower streets with parking only on one side. The Commissioners suggested
this new requirement should be reevaluated. They recommend approval of this
subdivision plan of this subdivision plan including 5 waivers, with the request
that the supervisors address the on going concern about maintenance of
"public" Boulevard planting areas. In this case, the developer stated
if no one would accept responsibility he would simply eliminate the areas. The
Commissioners hoped the Supervisors could address this so these areas in this
and future developments would not be lost.
3.) Rosewood - Preliminary/final subdivision plan for
the 19.4 acre tract near the southeast corner of Colonial Road and Earl Drive
on which Micki Molinari and Barbara Greenberg are proposing 33 units. This
tract is zoned R-1 with a Residential Cluster Overlay. Because of the
requirements of the new zoning ordinance, significant plan changes and/or
variance requests are needed so the applicants were looking for direction at
this meeting and no formal action was requested. Specific zoning problems with
the current plan are:
A.) The 6500 sq ft minimum lot size for multifamily structures
cannot be met.
B.) The requirement for a third parking space for each unit
not on the driveway outside the garage cannot be met with the open space
concept's narrower lots and the requested waiver for reduction of the cart way
width to 30 feet limiting parking to one side of the street.
C.) Because the portion of this site to be developed is
wooded, the tree preservation requirement restricting cutting of trees over 6
inches in diameter is a problem.
D.) The restriction of building on precautionary slopes is
also a problem.
In order to meet the requirements of the new ordinance, the
plan, which already has maximum open space and fewer units than allowed, would
lose 3 or more units. The Commissioners expected that the parking problem
mentioned in "B" above will somehow need to be reevaluated. An
additional problem with the plan concerns the proposed gazebo and walking path
in the open space, which will probably need to be eliminated because of the new
ordinance's handicapped accessibility requirements. The Commissioners felt this
was unfortunate and suggested possibly re identifying it as a nature trail
could be considered. County comments related to the new zoning requirements on
lot sizes and setbacks. Eric Epstein spoke supporting the project and expressed
concerns about overly restrictive zoning requirements that can discourage
clustering and open space projects.
4.) Sir Thomas Court, lots 5C & 5D
- Preliminary/Final subdivision plan to re divide two lots in the business
complex on Sir Thomas Court, north of School House Lane. Lot 5C would be
enlarged from 2.3 acres to 3.3 acres and the adjacent lot 5D would be reduced
from 4 acres to 3 acres. The change is to improve the use ability of the
present small lot 5C for Business Development. Staff comments were agreed to
and there were no county comments. The Commissioners recommended approval of
the subdivision with the requested waivers.
5.) Shuler All Pro Car Wash on Linglestown Road item of old business was tabled since no revised plans had been submitted.
Attended and reported by Watson Fisher.
Status Report
- The rezoning of the 33 acre part of the 48 acre portion of Stray Winds Farm
that is in Susquehanna Township from R-1, low density residential, to R-2,
medium residential, was approved by the Planning Commission on June 26, 2006,
and the required public hearing was held on August 23, 2006. It remains for the
Board of Commissioners to vote on the rezoning request. As of September 14,
2006, the vote had not yet been advertised; so the earliest date the request
could be voted on would be October 12, 2006.