Nov 22, 2013 3 min read

Robinson Township supervisors said they will no longer consider adding overlay districts – areas designated for oil and gas development – to the township’s zoning map. This announcement regarding a controversial proposed zoning map came Friday during a special meeting at the municipal building, which followed a larger discussion about rezoning during a public hearing Monday.

“We heard the concerns of some of the citizens,” Chairman Brian Coppola said Friday. “I don’t necessarily agree with the rationale, but we’re content to leave the overlay district to the next board.”

If the proposed zoning ordinance and map are approved, one difference for drilling companies would be the application process. The new ordinance would change the conditional-use application to a special-exception procedure, meaning it would go directly to the zoning board instead of the planning commission, Coppola said.

Supervisors have expressed their intent to overhaul the current zoning map and laws, which have been in place since 2004. Despite removing the disputed overlay districts from the plan, the proposed changes still have some residents worrying that their properties would be negatively affected.

Much of the township is composed of rural residential land, but supervisors want to add new districts to accommodate the planned Southern Beltway and prepare for any business development that comes with it.

Judy Kramer of Robinson Church Road said she does not support the proposed rezoning of her property into an interchange business development zone.

“The rationale used to change our property to interchange business is faulty, as the interchange between the Findlay connector and U.S. Route 22 is a closed interchange with no local access,” Kramer said, reading a letter she and her husband submitted to the board. “We consider all of these proposed changes as attempts by Robinson Township to prevent our access to our estate.”

Two of the three current supervisors – Coppola and Terrance Love – will be out of office in January, which led more than 250 residents to sign a petition asking supervisors to leave all zoning decisions to the next board. Coppola said that after five years of working on comprehensive changes to an outdated zoning ordinance and map, it would be their “obligation as a board of supervisors to finish what (they) started.”

Coppola said the township needs to prepare for development now by changing the zoning map accordingly because contractors’ bids for the turnpike project will be opened Wednesday.

Coppola and Mark Brositz, the two supervisors present at Friday’s meeting, voted to authorize the township solicitor, consultants and staff to make changes to the proposed zoning ordinance and map based on residents’ comments from Monday’s public meeting. Many residents were concerned about language they said would limit their property rights, and Coppola said those changes would be easy to make. Love was absent from the meeting.

The motion also will enable supervisors to advertise a public hearing, followed by a regular meeting, for Dec. 23. Rodger Kendall, who will join the new board of supervisors in January, said he doesn’t think a vote should be rushed by the current board.

“Their intentions are to pass this before the end of the year,” Kendall said, “and if you spend five years on it, and it has all these problems, how are you going to cure it in 40 days?”

Coppola said he expects a vote will be taken on the proposed zoning ordinance at the next regular meeting.