BUFFALO TWP — Although 12.8 acres on Riemer Road have been rezoned for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company to build a new station, the organization is not obliged to use the land for that purpose.

Despite concerns by some township officials, the township supervisors on Wednesday night approved rezoning the land from agriculture to business.

Supervisor Dan Przybylek abstained, saying the township could end up with an undesirable business at the site if the fire department does not build on the property.

"We're going into limbo," he said. "We don't know what's going to happen."

Supervisors Al Roenigk, Greg Furer, John Haven and Gary Risch Sr. approved the rezoning.

The supervisors dropped the contingency requirement for the department to build from the rezoning after firefighters complained.

Firefighter Gary Risch Jr. said the department could not be held to its plan to build a station on the land, which is currently owned by the Kelly estate, if it does not have the money to pay for construction.

"I wouldn't put the department $600,000 to $700,000 in debt," Risch Jr. said.

He confirmed the department might sell all of the land if it does not build there.

The fire department was not going to buy the land if it was not rezoned.

Before the vote, planning commission member Paul Schmidt said officials reviewed the rezoning request under the assumption there was a commitment from the department to build a new station and now that has changed.

Township officials cleared up the firefighters' misconception that a particular business could be blocked from using the site without the contingent use. Furer said if a company follows the proper procedures, there is no way to prevent it from using the land that is zoned business.

"Legally, we can't tell them no," he said.

After the meeting Schmidt said the township would be protected if the main use of the land would reserved for a new fire station. Under the municipal code, any additional uses would fall under subdivision regulations, which officials can set limits.

"This opens the door," Schmidt said.

Before the vote, firefighters argued a business designation for the parcel would not be inconsistent with surrounding properties. The supervisors eventually agreed.

Roenigk said residents near the site previously opposed new residential, not business, development for the area.

Furer pointed out during a public hearing about the then-proposed rezoning, Riemer Road residents only had concerns about the fire station being built at the site.

The fire department intends to build on the land to be closer to the Route 356 corridor, where most calls originate and the way most volunteer firefighters travel to report for duty. The current station is on Sarver Road.