Nov 2, 2016 3 min read

Members of the Washington-East Washington Joint Planning Commission met Tuesday in City Hall to once again address a collaborative zoning ordinance years in the making.

Composed of 11 city and borough officials, representatives of Washington & Jefferson College, Washington Hospital and business owners, the commission’s purpose is to implement recommendations from a joint comprehensive plan adopted in 2012. The plan defines focus areas and provides specific recommendations for land use, housing, transportation, the economy, amenities and historic preservation.

“It’s important to get it adopted because of new business coming in,” said city computer systems coordinator Lynn Galluze, who is facilitating meetings until the board elects officers.

Municipalities have to allow for every type of use, but a joint ordinance allows East Washington to eliminate certain districts, such as commercial and industrial, because the city offers them.

And with the municipalities so closely intertwined, the success of one generates success for the other, said Christy Bean Rowing, executive director of Citywide Development Corp. Popular events such as the city’s farmers market bring more people to the area.

“The dollars or the activity are not going to begin or end at our borders,” said Rowing.

The most noticeable change to the zoning map is the addition of an educational district surrounding W&J and a medical district around the hospital, allowing compatible business development.

David Posner, an attorney representing East Washington, said the borough was not willing to accept an education district on North Avenue, in the area of the college.

“If you go and walk that area, you see a lot of houses. A lot of people live there,” he said. “The borough took the position we would prefer not to have the education district.”

An earlier version of the zoning map would have placed 28 percent of the borough’s land in the education district, said Posner, which could potentially affect tax income. The latest map places the education district only in the city.

“The borough would not sign it the way it was,” Posner said.

Other zoning changes include sections of the city’s seventh and eighth wards modified to R-1 residential, more accurately reflecting current single-family dwellings.

The new map also creates a more traditional central business district.

The commission voted to recommend the zoning update to city and borough councils. East Washington will take action Nov. 7 and Washington Nov. 10, allowing submission to the Washington County Planning Commission. There will be a 45-day period in which comments can be made from interested parties. In January, the city and borough will conduct a public hearing, and in February, councils will take action to enact the ordinance.