BUTLER TWP — New restrictions will not be imposed on the drilling of oil and gas wells in Butler Township after a list of amendments to the municipality’s current regulations failed to gain enough votes Monday night.

The rule changes, which were introduced in May amid residents’ concerns about the possible health impacts of unconventional gas drilling near residential areas, failed in a split vote of 2-2, with commissioners Sam Zurzolo and Charles Nedz voting ‘no’ and Joe Hasychak and Dave Zarnick voting in favor of the new rules. Commissioner Joseph Wiest was absent on Monday for what township manager Ed Kirkwood said was a personal commitment.

In addition to more stringent setback requirements for well bores, the new rules would have forbidden well drilling in R-1 zones in the township — the most common zoning category for residential housing — and placed restrictions on how drilling could take place in R-2 zones, which include things like duplexes and some college campuses.

The township’s regulations allow oil and gas drilling in all areas of the township.

The proposed amendments were too restrictive for Zurzolo and Nedz, who both said they believed the township needed to respect property owners’ rights to allow drilling on their properties, so long as the development met state regulations.

Nedz said that after months of research into how well pads are constructed, he was concerned that the restrictions would put too much of the township out of the reach of drilling companies.

“My concern is that the proposed amendments do now allow for enough access to the oil and gas deposits we have,” Nedz said.

Zoning officer Jessie Hines said that more than 40 percent of the township is zoned as R-1 property.

Zurzolo said the drilling industry is well-regulated, and that property owners should have the right to allow drilling on their properties.

“The people that have the ground have the right to drill if they want to drill,” Zurzolo said.

The vote came after brief comments from four township residents who, like commissioners, were split over the proposed amendments.

Residents Joseph McMurry and Ann Marie Bogen spoke in support of the amendments, while Mark Krenitsky and Joe Gray spoke in favor of landowners’ rights.

The vote puts an end to months of speculation and consideration by township officials, who proposed the changes earlier this year and held a public hearing in May, but then decided to wait on a county court ruling on a legal challenge to well drilling regulations in Middlesex Township.

That ruling, which upheld the township’s ordinance broadening allowable drilling operations, came last month.