SAXONBURG — A Carol Drive landowner’s rezoning application died for lack of a second at Wednesday’s council meeting, a non-action neighbors called “a relief for the community.”

The rezoning request by landowner Ron Jack of Sarver was the subject of a lengthy public hearing that preceded Wednesday night’s meeting and packed the borough’s municipal building with dozens of residents who said they opposed the change.

Jack had asked borough officials to approve rezoning two parcels of property along Carol Drive — an access lot and a 6-acre parcel zoned for residential use — to allow them to be developed for commercial use.

Real estate agent Russ Greer, who represented Jack’s interests at the public hearing, said plans for the property were focused on selling the land to a developer who would build single and multifamily housing units there.

But neighbors along Carol Drive as well as other borough residents voiced their opposition to the proposal.

Opponents said Greer couldn’t guarantee the property would only be developed into housing and pointed out the proposed rezoning for commercial uses would allow things like beer distributors and private clubs to be installed.

Don Andrews, whose family lives at 117 Carol Drive, next to Jack’s property, presented council members with a petition he said contained 164 signatures of people “from all over town,” who opposed Jack’s application.

“This is not a Carol Drive issue, this is a community issue,” Andrews said.

He said rezoning the property would have “huge weight in the character of this community.”

Other residents pointed out problems with flooding they said were due to an inadequate stormwater management system, concerns about increased traffic and already-poor road conditions, and their desire to keep Saxonburg from becoming bogged down in multifamily housing developments.

“We have to keep our little oasis here,” said Thomas Sobot, who lives at 123 Carol Drive and is an elder at Saxonburg Memorial Church.

“We want to keep this little town as much of a non-Cranberry as we can,” Sobot said.

Council members convened their regular meeting immediately following Wednesday’s public hearing on the zoning application, and a motion to approve Jack’s application failed on the floor for lack of a second.

Council member William Gillespie Jr. said that closed the issue in his book.

“It’s dead. A done deal,” Gillespie said of the proposed change. “There’s no need to bring it up again.”

Following the inaction Andrews said the rejection was “a relief for the entire community,” and he added they weren’t surprised to receive so much support from neighbors and other residents.

“This is nothing new. We’ve dealt with it before,” said Diane Andrews.

Greer said he wasn’t surprised by council members’ decision on the application, which had been approved by the borough’s planning commission.

“I think we got caught up with the problems, like drainage, that are already here,” he said.

Greer said the property, which is currently listed at $300,000, would likely have its price reduced and be put on the market as a lot for single family homes.