Minutes of the Wilmington Township Planning Commission
Meeting of January 20, 2009
The meeting was convened at 8:08 p.m. at the Township Building.
Members present: William Allen; Frank Antoniazzi, chair; Frederick Neikirk, secretary; and Lynn Williams.
Members absent: None
Visitors: Supervisor William Allen, John M. Byler, Jonathan Byler, Jonathan Byler, Levi Byler, Steve K. Byler, Don Hepler, Jacob Hostetler, Patty Jurkiewicz, John Kurtz, Joe Knott, Joe Mast, and Brian Swisher.
1. Secretary’s Report
a. The minutes of the meetings of November 19, 2008, and December 16, 2008, had been previously distributed. It was moved, seconded, and carried that they be approved as presented.
b. The Secretary reported that Lynn Williams had been reappointed to the Commission and that Dale King had resigned as a member of the Commission.
c. It was moved, seconded, and carried to reelect Frank Antoniazzi as Chairman and Frederick Neikirk as Secretary.
d. It was moved seconded and carried that the Commission’s meetings for 2009 be set for the third Tuesday of each month at 8:00 p.m., except for May and June when the meetings will be the fourth Tuesday.
2. Mr. Knott was present in support of the proposed Byler Subdivision. This is a nine lot subdivision with seven parcels being divided off two residual tracts. The proposed subdivision is located on Old Mercer Rd. Part of the land is zoned R-1 and part Agricultural. Six of the parcels being divided are being conveyed to adjacent lots as lot-line adjustments. Only one new lot is being created (lot 4 on the plat), and it is intended as a building lot. The residual lot belonging to Jonas and Katie Byler has an existing dwelling with on-lot water and a privy. The residual lands of Paul and Lavina Byler are being used for agricultural purposes. The total acreage of the project is 21.61 acres. The applicants are seeking waivers for the location of the benchmark (sec. 2302.2.i) and the PA One-Call serial number (sec. 2302.2.o). The application was timely filed, and the comment letter from the Lawrence County Planning Commission has been received.
It was moved, seconded, and carried to grant the requested waivers. It was noted that no driveway is shown for the new building lot. If that portion of the subdivision is approved, and if a house is to be constructed on this lot, the owner will need to apply for a driveway permit under the Township’s Driveway Ordinance.
The PADEP Sewage Facilities Planning Module for the building lot has not been completed by the Sewage Enforcement Officer. Similarly, the PADEP Request for Planning Waiver and Non-Building Declaration has not been completed for the other lots. Mr. Knott explained that the forms were not completed because the SEO had not been able to find an acceptable alternate disposal site on the Jonas Byler residual lot. This is required before lot 4 can be subdivided from the residual lot. Apparently DEP and the SEO are trying to determine whether the residual lot will be acceptable for a spray irrigation sewage disposal system should that be necessary in the future. Mr. Hepler expressed concern in that he is buying the new building lot and the delay in getting the subdivision accomplished is delaying his plans to build and driving up his costs. It was noted that this is the first meeting at which the Planning Commission has seen this proposal. Moreover, we cannot approve the proposed subdivision until the sewage disposal questions are satisfactorily addressed. It was agreed by common consent that we should take no final action on the proposed subdivision at this meeting.
It was moved, seconded, and carried that the Planning Commission hold a called meeting at a date to be determined by the officers if a) the various sewage modules are completed prior to our next meeting and b) in the opinion of the officers such a called meeting will allow the subdivision to be approved more quickly than would otherwise be the case. [NOTE: This extra meeting took place on 29 January 2009.]
3. The Secretary had distributed a new draft of the proposed amendment to create a mixed agricultural use. In consultation with the Solicitor he is recommending that we propose the repeal of the section 800.39 of the Zoning Ordinance (embodying the Farm Based Business Amendment of 2007) and that we fold relevant material from that section into the amendment currently being considered.
He also reported he had a conversation with a representative from Code.Sys, which is the firm that the Township has engaged to enforce the Building Code. Code.Sys has concluded that if any structure is built that people will enter to make purchases such a structure must be treated as a commercial building for the purposes of the Building Code. (Note: This says nothing about how it must be treated for zoning purposes.) The major issue this raises for the Commission is that such buildings must have restroom facilities. Our proposal explicitly forbids that because we do not want those wishing to engage in the mixed agricultural use to have to go through the land development and sewage inspection processes. (Note: This is a carry-over from our previous amendment that created farm based businesses.) The Township Solicitor has also had conversations with Code.Sys and has received similar information. There is an appeal process that applicants could use to see if they could get approval for port-a-johns to be used instead of inside restrooms. Hopefully the approval of such a waiver in one case will create a precedent that will allow others to go forward.
The proposed amendment was moved and seconded. It was agreed by common consent to send the proposal to the County for their comment, leaving in the restriction on restrooms until we get a more definitive sense of the direction we should take on this issue. There was discussion on the proposed amendment and on the sewage issue. No final action on the proposed amendment could be taken at this meeting because the County Planning Office has not yet had opportunity to comment on the proposal.
There being no further business that could be accomplished at this meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m.
Frederick R. Neikirk
Secretary