Overlay district mulled
CENTER TWP — A hearing Wednesday night on the proposal for an Economic Resource Overlay District in the township stirred up quite a bit of discussion.
By the end of the nearly two-hour meeting, the township supervisors decided to take time to consider what was said by citizens before a vote that will take place on April 13. The decision was met with applause from the 55 attendees.
“I think the majority of the comments they made were good points which we'll take under consideration,” said supervisor Chairman Ed Latuska. “The majority of the comments we got, I don't know if they were positive, but they were things we need to take a look at.”
The overlay district's purpose is to identify a suitable area in the township for mixed professional and institutional development. The proposal for the overlay district's placement is on the northern and western sides of North Duffy Road.
The supervisors stressed a desire to prevent the overlay district from becoming commercial.
“If this overlay district is created, there will be no Wal-Mart, no Red Lobster, etc.,” said township engineer Ron Olsen. “It will not be commercial.”
Township attorney Michael Gallagher mentioned the possibility of the overlay district becoming a business park.
The proposed district is near homeowners, some of whom spoke at the hearing.
Resident Steve Sherman said, “I don't want to look outside my window and see a seven-story office building. We just want to look out for our property values and our way of life.”
Resident Russ Hearn, shared that sentiment.
“It would change dramatically,” Hearn said of the township. “That's the concern a lot of people might have.”
Olsen gave a presentation outlining the overlay district as well as five different road plans that could be done in coordination with the state Department of Transportation.
Olsen said bringing businesses in would bring in high-paying jobs and tax dollars for the community, as well as provide for a brighter future for the township.
“The idea is to have your kids and grandkids a place to work in the future and not move,” Olsen said.
Board Vice Chairman Alan Smallwood also spoke of the plan bringing in jobs.
“They want the best of both worlds,” he said of the residents. “They don't want to do this, but then they send their kids off to college and when their kids are done with college there's no jobs. We're doing something for the community to generate jobs.”
Another concern that residents had dealt with traffic and road issues. The supervisors said that PennDOT reported it would cost $3.5 million for the Lions Road bridge project, and that there were other ways to reduce traffic and make it more efficient.There were five potential road plans, but some citizens worried that they would bring in more traffic.Resident Angela Walter was upset by the lack of efficiency for a plan to deal with expected traffic issues.“I'm a little disappointed,” she said. “It seems like there's no solid plan for the traffic on Duffy Road.”The supervisors said they will vote on the overlay district on April 13 at a meeting at the Unionville Fire Hall.The overlay district allows for: professional or business offices, including institutional headquarters for nonprofit corporations; data processing facilities; universities, colleges and trade schools, though dormitories and on-site living arrangements for students and faculty are not allowed; printing and publishing facilities; radio and television broadcasting studios, recording studios, and movie studios although antennae for these studios is not allowed; federal, state, county and municipal government offices; indoor sports complexes; health care centers, including hospice care; and hospitals.Conditional uses include research and development facilities and day care.The current residential zoning will remain unaffected by the overlay district.The supervisors are proposing this overlay district to be adjacent to the medical center that is being built for VA Butler Healthcare. The idea is that project could attract more businesses to that area.Latuska said that the board is not taking this decision lightly.“I wish we could tell the people how many hours and thought we're putting into this decision,” he said. “We're not going into this blindly.”He also expressed frustration at the lack of residents at board meetings.“I don't know what more we can say,” he said about the proposal. “It's on our website. The meetings are advertised. We tell people every month to come to our meetings.”
