VALENCIA — The borough council made history Monday night, enacting the town's first zoning ordinance in its 121-year history.

Council voted on the ordinance following a hearing in which residents raised clarifying questions about the impacts zoning would have on the community.

Jackson Township manager Chris Rearick, who the borough brought on as a consultant to help craft the ordinance, presented the plan.

Most questions from residents centered on how the ordinance would impact existing businesses situated in the residential zones.

Officials explained these businesses would be grandfathered in, and that business owners need not be concerned about having to relocate.

After answering the few questions asked, council adjourned the hearing and began the meeting to vote on the ordinance.

With no additional public comment and no other business before the borough, council unanimously approved the ordinance.

Earlier this month, council Vice President Shanon McKenna explained the new zoning laws are meant to help preserve the town's residential areas while also helping area business and property owners understand the best ways to expand or develop in the borough.

The ordinance cordons off sections of the borough and preserves them as residential areas, while designating the southwest portion, south of Railroad Street, for commercial development.

McKenna said officials have worked to write zoning laws that not only protect the borough's small- town feel, but also help businesses understand the best ways for them to grow in the borough.

“It'll give them a road map for where and how to build in our community,” McKenna said earlier this month.

As a part of the drafting process, planning commissioners issued public response surveys to solicit residents' opinions on how the borough should look and be zoned.

“They wanted to keep that small-town feel,” McKenna said. “At the same time, I do recognize fully that we need to have something in place for those businesses that want to expand and grow. We have to strike that balance.”