HARMONY — After members of the borough council attempted to replace zoning board solicitor Mike Gallagher at their Tuesday meeting, the attorney had a simple response.

“I serve at the pleasure of the board, and if the board wants to find someone else, they certainly have the right to do so,” he said.

Gallagher, who also represents numerous communities in various capacities, has been the solicitor for the zoning board for two decades.

He came under criticism because some borough council members complained variance requests were being approved too easily by the zoning hearing board.

Members of council attempted to replace Gallagher after comments by council member Jarod Stewart, who said not enough is being done by the board to properly question variance requests.

However, Gallagher rebuffed the notion the zoning board approves all requests.

But the attempt to replace Gallagher through a request for proposal for a new solicitor is on hold because only the zoning hearing board can make that change.

Gallagher said he was unaware of Tuesday’s discussion in which most members on council agreed changes to the board needed to be made.

Stewart on Tuesday said he was frustrated to see a variance was approved April 20 by the zoning board for a property on Monroe Street. The lot owner, who was not identified, sought to split the oversized property in two.

Stewart said by doing so one of the lots now is smaller than the borough allows.

Variances are granted when existing ordinances place an undue hardship on the property owner. That wasn’t the case in last month’s request, Stewart said.

By splitting the property and creating a smaller lot, he said the owner created the hardship and not because of a zoning ordinance.

Russ Ottney, the zoning board chairman, said he also was unaware of council’s actions. He had no comment regarding how the zoning board approaches individual variance requests. He also declined to comment on council’s desire to find a replacement for Gallagher.

No other members of the zoning board could be reached.

Harmony Mayor Cathy Rape said she hoped the zoning board’s variance approval does not set a bad precedent for future decisions where properties are subdivided, sold and built on. She was surprised by the zoning board’s decision and what it might mean for other property owners looking for similar results.

“I’m just wondering if someone is going to come in and create their own hardship and hope to get approved,” Rape said.

Gallagher said the zoning board reviews each variance request and takes it job seriously.

“In my decades on it, I found the board to be very hard working and always asking the hard questions,” he said, noting the board did discuss the Monroe Street property and had questions for its owner. He refused to discuss what was asked at the meeting or what factors went into the board’s decision.

According to Matthew Racunas, council solicitor, the zoning board makes its own appointment for solicitor. He said council cannot make changes to an independent body, and in this case could only approve or reject an appointment made by the zoning board at council’s reorganizational meeting in January.

“We can’t tell them at this point who to use,” Racunas said.