CRANBERRY TWP — The township supervisors Thursday evening rejected a request from several property owners on Freedom Road to change their zoning from residential to commercial.

The current zoning on those properties was changed in 2010 to include a Traditional Neighborhood Development overlay zoning district, which would allow a mix of limited commercial in addition to residential uses.

Through a two-year planning process that brought Freedom Road residents and residents in surrounding neighborhoods together, the township had thought it reached a compromise with the TND overlay district.

However, that was not the case as this action was the latest in a series made by some residents along Freedom Road since the TND overlay zoning was approved two years ago.

Those residents still are unhappy about their zoning on Freedom Road, which has seen traffic volumes skyrocket in the past decade.

They believe that traffic has rendered their properties worthless and the recent zoning overlay added has done nothing to alleviate their issues.

Several actions have been undertaken by residents along Freedom Road in recent months to allow for more commercial uses.

Jim Wood recently filed an appeal in Butler County Court of the denial by the township’s zoning hearing board in December. He challenges his residential zoning and requests his property be rezoned commercial.

That case is pending.

Meanwhile, the zoning hearing board will hear a request by 13 Freedom Road property owners on March 19 challenging the zoning ordinance.

The frustration over the entire Freedom Road zoning process was evident at Thursday’s meeting.

Supervisors Chairman Bruce Mazzoni said the entire process has cost the township a lot of time and money.

If the zoning issues along Freedom Road aren’t resolved by July, Mazzoni proposed eliminating the TND overlays and reverting those properties back to the their original residential zoning.

“If we can’t reach a settlement, I say we go back to the original R-2 (residential) zoning. That’s my position,” he said.