ZELIENOPLE — Accusations of impropriety and back-room dealings over the proposed Village Residential District zoning ordinance have led Zelienople to form a “community action committee” to collaborate on the ordinance with residents.

Gregg Semel, Zelienople councilman, said Monday he looks forward to the committee's creation to discuss the proposed ordinance as it relates to the Glade Run Lutheran Services property. The committee would be comprised of two planning commission members, two council members, a handful of residents and the borough's professional staff, he said.

While it is not yet formed, borough manager Don Pepe said the borough plans to pull together stakeholders in the coming weeks.

Semel's discussion of the possible committee comes one week following a second public hearing over the ordinance, one in which several council members said residents levied attacks at borough officials.

“People that have lashed out and made innuendos about myself and my fellow council mates' conduct, I believe, may have been the victim of not necessarily bad but limited information,” he said. “I feel that, once an open dialogue occurs that provides good insight and education on this item, many of these folks will see things differently.”

The ordinance, which was recommended for approval by the borough's planning commission and has subsequently become the topic of much division at public hearings, allows for residential development on certain parcels in Zelienople. It would replace the Planned Residential Development ordinance, which was repealed in April 2021 in anticipation of the new ordinance.

It would provide for more-dense development than in the R-1 zoning district, which includes the Timberbrook and Rosewood developments, along with having smaller lot area requirements, but would have roughly similar single-family home density as the repealed planned development ordinance.

Opponents of the ordinance, such as Jim Hulings, say the ordinance could potentially increase the borough's population by roughly 3,000 residents, which he said in an interview “would be devastating to this little town.” In August, Pepe said the 3,000-person number comes from a misapplication of the ordinance to the properties to which it would apply. The properties, he said, have steep slopes and other features making it such that “a lot of the acreage is not buildable.”

But the borough's issue with some of the public comment stems not from the opposition to the ordinance but from accusations of impropriety.

“Nobody was out of line in terms of being dangerous, which is good, and they have a right to be loud, but it was really out of place for what this town usually is. It was disappointing to see that,” Pepe said in an interview Wednesday. “It was not disappointing to see the input — that's what we were there for — but the tone going into the meeting, of 'these folks are hiding things from us,' it just wasn't true.”

Some of the consequences of that viewpoint, Pepe said, were allegations from residents that council members were “lining their pockets.” Council vice president Drew Mathew heartily rebutted the accusation.

“I think it was a slap in the face,” Mathew said during Monday's meeting. “Every one of us up here, other than Don (Pepe) and Jim (Miller, chief of police), we do not get a paycheck. We are here to serve everybody. We don't get any money from this. We're here to make this a better place to live.”

As for the committee, which is yet to be formed, Pepe said the borough hopes it will come up with an ordinance suitable for Zelienople and its residents by the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022.

“That's the only way to do this, is to try to work together,” he added.