SR Twp.'s zoning officer retires
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The township’s first and only permit and zoning officer is retiring.
Harold McDowell, at 88 years old, is leaving the workforce a little older than the average retiree.
He has been the permit and zoning officer for the township since 1993, when the township first started using zoning. “It’s been a very interesting experience,” said McDowell of Slippery Rock Township.
He said that zoning protects the atmosphere of the community. He said that many residents, however, were not fans of zoning ordinances when they first came about. “People resisted change,” McDowell said.
He enjoyed his work, although he said it could be difficult working with property owners who wanted to do something that ordinances prohibited.
“People don’t want to hear it,” McDowell said. “They want to do something, but can’t.”
During his time as zoning officer, he has seen a massive increase in the number of apartment complexes for Slippery Rock University students as well as a large growth of industrial activity in the township.
He has seen the cost of building permits skyrocket from $5 for a single family home up to $1,000 in some cases.
McDowell will finish working at the end of December. Then the position will be eliminated, and the work will be picked up by other township employees.
McDowell started working for the township in 1984 when he was 59. He was the township assessor from then until 1993.
Both of his positions with the township have been part-time. He had office hours in the township building on Fridays and would take phone calls and appointments at home the rest of the week.
McDowell, a 1942 graduate of Grove City High School, worked full-time in industrial management for private sector companies, finally retiring in 1992.
In 1964, McDowell lost his left hand in a farming accident while trying to unjam a corn picker. Despite this, he still pitched softball right-handed, until he was 70 years old.
His wife of 50 years, Mary Elizabeth, died in 2007. He has three children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
McDowell is involved with the Slippery Rock Rotary Club, the London Grange and Center Presbyterian Church in Grove City and sings as a baritone in the Olde Town Harmony Barbershop Chorus.
In retirement, McDowell said he would like to do some traveling, but there is one big thing he is looking forward to.
“A quiet phone,” said McDowell, who is used to taking several calls a day at home from township residents and landowners.
