Commission seeks public input on ordinance amendments
WAYNESBURG – Greene County Planning Commission has been discussing proposed amendments to the county’s subdivision and land development ordinance for the last few months and would now like to hear from the public regarding the proposed changes as well as other issues it believes the ordinance should address.
The commission plans to discuss the proposed amendments at its meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in the second floor conference room of the Greene County Office Building and invites the public to attend.
“Anybody involved at all in land development or the requirements of land development may want to attend the meeting,” said Robbie Matesic, executive director of the county’s Department of Economic Development.
This could include municipal officials, developers, engineers, Realtors or people who own property that may be developed, she said.
A workshop meeting also will be scheduled with municipal officials to explain the changes and receive input.
“We hope that after these meetings we’ll be in a position to address any additional concerns so that we can submit something to the county commissioners in September,” Matesic said.
The county commissioners will advertise the proposed amendments and hold a public hearing before adopting them.
Many of the amendments involve changes already approved and implemented by the commission that were never formally adopted as part of the original 1995 ordinance.
Others were proposed after review of the municipal planning code and changes in regulations since the ordinance’s initial adoption and on recommendations from the planning staff.
One of the significant changes will allow the commission to approve projects in phases and give it the authority to require developers to submit performance bonds for each phase.
Phasing might be applicable for a residential subdivision, for example, for which the developer constructs infrastructure and an access road and several houses in the first phase and later extends the infrastructure and builds additional homes in subsequent phases.
The provision will allow developers to submit projects to the commission and not be held up on the start of construction, Matesic said.
Before a phased project is approved, the developer will have to submit complete design plans to the planning commission. In addition, the developer will have to have all applicable state permits for the phase on which work is to start, she said.
Another amendment will modify the ordinance’s outdated stormwater regulations to be consistent with those of the State Department of Environmental Protection.
DEP requires an approved stormwater management plan for any land disturbance of one or more acres. DEP regulations exempt the stormwater plan requirement for oil and natural gas developments that are less than 4.99 acres.
The county’s ordinance will differ from DEP’s by requiring an approved stormwater management plan for all development, including oil and gas operations, of one or more acres, Matesic said.
In regard to oil and gas development, the county’s ordinance primarily comes into play only when structures such as buildings are constructed at oil or natural gas sites. The county ordinance does not regulate well pads or the installation of compressors or pipelines, which are permitted by DEP.
Other amendments will require developers to include on their plans any proposed noise controls, retention walls, towers, transmission structures or off-site water discharges that do not flow directly to a stream and have a representative present at the commission’s meetings to explain the project.
Matesic said she also will suggest proposed amendments regarding mobile home parks, which would allow other types of dwellings other than mobile homes to be placed on the leased lots; and lot splits, which will streamline the process particularly in situations in which a property owner divides a property for his heirs adding more than one new property line.
People may have other suggestions on what the ordinance should address and the commission would like to hear from them, Matesic said. “We seldom receive any feedback from the public once a development is completed,” she said.
Residents may feel existing regulations are insufficient in regard to lighting, parking, traffic control, buffers or landscaping, she said. They also may feel the ordinance should address more activities regarding oil and gas development, such as setback requirements, or campgrounds.
The planning commission last month discussed including amendments to address oil and gas development and campgrounds, concerns expressed by municipalities, but seemed to agree those issues would be better addressed by municipalities through zoning ordinances, which regulates land use, rather than through the land development ordinance.