MIDDLESEX TWP — Butler County Judge Michael Yeager has dismissed the appeal to a ruling by the Middlesex Township Zoning Hearing Board that upholds a zoning amendment on shale gas operations in the township.

The dismissal also lifts a court-mandated stay on the development of five gas wells on the Bob and Kim Geyer property on Denny Road.

“We are pleased with the outcome of this process and look forward to recommencing operations at the well site in the near future,” said Rex Energy spokesman Pat Creighton. “Rex Energy remains steadfast in our commitment to maintain an open dialogue with the Mars Area School Board and local stakeholders as we restart operations at this well site.”

A group of residents plus the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and the Clean Air Council appealed to the zoning board the township supervisors’ August 2014 vote to approve the zoning amendment, which would allow various shale natural gas operations in much of the township.

After months of exhaustive testimony by witnesses for the residents and environmental groups on one side and witnesses for Rex Energy, MarkWest Energy Partners, and Middlesex Township on the other, the zoning board voted unanimously in May to uphold the amendment approved by the supervisors.

The residents and environmental groups then appealed the zoning board’s decision to county court, and Judge Yeager made his ruling Thursday.

In his ruling, Yeager refutes each of the claims of the appealers before dismissing their case entirely and affirming the zoning board’s decision to uphold the amendment.

Yeager pointed out that he took no new evidence in making his decision, and decided solely on whether the zoning board committed an error of law and whether the board’s vote was supported by evidence.

Yeager also wrote that the court cannot substitute its judgment for that of the local agency unless the zoning board “manifestly abused its discretion.”

Regarding the claim that the zoning hearing board members all have shale gas leases, which the challengers said is a conflict of interest, Yeager said the zoning board members followed state law by divulging at the outset of the hearing that they had leases.

On the claim that evidence presented by those appealing the amendment was excluded by the zoning board, Yeager called the evidence “uncorroborated hearsay unsupported by any competent evidence of record.”

The claim that the zoning board abused its discretion or abdicated its role as a fact finder during the hearings was also refuted by Yeager.

“Here again, the appellants seem to mistake their claims of abuse of discretion with their mere disagreements with the zoning hearing board’s findings,” Yeager wrote.

The judge also said the claim that the zoning board’s decision violates citizens’ rights to health and safety is incorrect.

“The suggestion that a zoning ordinance is rendered unconstitutional and does not protect the health, safety and welfare of the people because it is not restrictive enough is contrary to the concepts and principles of zoning,” Yeager wrote.

He said those appealing the zoning board’s decision provided copious legal citations, but all of those citations were regarding a challenge of an ordinance that restricted a landowner’s use of his own land, not his neighbor’s land.

Regarding the challengers’ claim that shale gas drilling is an industrial use, Yeager said those who disagree with the township’s and zoning board’s contention can make their feelings known in the election process.

Yeager also ruled that the supervisors properly balanced the environmental interests of its citizens with the ability of land owners to develop their properties.

Attorney Sean Gallagher of Murrin Taylor Flach Gallagher and Horan, which represented the zoning board during the appeal, was happy with Yeager’s ruling.

“We’re very pleased with Judge Yeager’s decision and his acknowledgment of the hard work of the zoning hearing board,” Gallagher said.

Aaron Jacobs-Smith, a coordinating attorney for the Clean Air Council, said on Friday that the organization disagrees with Yeager’s ruling.

“We maintain that it’s unconstitutional to industrialize a township by allowing unconventional drilling on over 90 percent of the land,” Jacobs-Smith said.

He said while he has discussed with the council’s executive director, Joseph Minott, the possibility of appealing Yeager’s decision to a higher court, no decision has been made yet.

“We just got (Yeager’s) opinion today, but we still feel like we have a strong case,” Jacobs-Smith said. “We’re not going to commit ourselves at this time to a particular course of action.”