Aug 29, 2002 By Amy Karpinsky 4 min read

The Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board Wednesday denied a request for a strip mining company to set up shop on property in North Union Township. Purco Coal Inc. was seeking to mine 76.8 acres on property zoned M-1 and owned by James and Brenda Collins of Mount Braddock. The closest home to the proposed mining site was 300 feet away and numerous other homes on Rosey Hill Road are within 800 feet.

At a hearing on the matter in July, a number of neighbors attended to express opposition to the proposal.

Elaine Taylor, who owns 2 1/3 acres adjacent to the proposed mine site, testified at the hearing that she was concerned with devaluation of her century-old home. She also said that most of the people who live in the neighborhood are retired.

Other issues raised at the hearing included the proposed hours of operation, which were 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. There was also a potential for blasting at the site.

The proposal was not officially rejected, it wasn’t approved when a motion in favor of granting the variance died for a lack of a second. ZHB member Ricardo Cicconi made a motion to grant Purco Coal Inc. a variance for a strip mining operation, but when there wasn’t a second, the motion died, and was thus denied.

Of the other two board members present, Mark Morrison and Charles Cieszynski, only Morrison could have seconded the motion because he was present at the hearing.

Cieszynski declined to participate in the action, saying that he wasn’t at the hearing and hadn’t reviewed the file.

When no second was made to the motion, solicitor Gretchen Mundorff said, “The request is denied.”

In other action, the ZHB approved a request from Greg Lofstead to put up an outdoor advertising sign on property in Masontown. The 20-by-24-foot sign will be located near Subway and Pizza Hut on Route 21.

The vote was 2-0, with Morrison and Cicconi voting in favor of the request.

The ZHB voted to deny a request from Raymond E. Cossell for a variance from setback requirements on property in Dunbar Township with a dual zoning of M1 and B1.

In making the motion to deny the request, Cicconi said that during the July hearing, there wasn’t testimony asking for a specific setback and Cossell didn’t establish that a hardship existed.

Cossell had a sales agreement with another man to sell the property, which contained storage units and a wall and the variance was needed to provide access to the property.

Two hearings that were scheduled for Wednesday were postponed until mid-October. George E. Martin of Lemont Furnace was seeking a variance from minimum lot size, width and setback requirements for property zoned A-1 agricultural rural in North Union Township. Martin plans to sell off a piece of property containing a house.

The hearing was postponed when Martin didn’t have a survey and couldn’t tell the ZHB exactly how much of a variance he was requesting.

A hearing regarding a request to reverse a decision made by the Fayette County Planning Commission for a Land Development Plan for Indian Creek Camplands in Springfield Township was also postponed.

Robert R. Crider Jr., David Crider, Paul Mulligan and Robert R. Crider Sr. were objecting to the campground plans.

However, their attorney, Richard Bower, has also filed a petition with the Court of Common Pleas regarding the matter.

Sheryl Heid, attorney for the Fayette County Planning, Zoning and Economic Development office, objected to the ZHB hearing the matter, saying that it wasn’t the proper jurisdiction.

Bower said he filed the petition both places because he didn’t want it to be thrown out and neither court would transfer it to the other jurisdiction.

However, he said it may be possible to work out differences with the developer. Leon Shal plans to open a 162-campground site on 100 acres.

Thomas Bowlen, who represents Shal, said it would be possible to not make the road leading to the site private and take away the proposed gate.

The ZHB voted to continue the hearing until 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 16. After the hearing was continued, Shal said the petitioners should spend more time getting their trash and illegal trailers off of their property instead of coming after him.

He said the zoning board should “chase them instead of someone doing something in the community.”