Zoning board permits housing units
The Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board took action Wednesday that will allow the construction of housing units for the elderly in Smithfield. The board voted to grant a special exception for multiple family dwellings for the B1, general business-zoned property owned by Dean D. and Brenda A. Marunyak and located along Route 119. The board also granted a variance from side setback requirements.
Developer Art Jarrett said he is planning to sell the 20 units in the gated community to people 55 and older. Jarrett said the plans call for a garage for each three-bedroom unit.
“They’re going to be roomy,” he said.
The development will include 10 duplex units on a 5-acre plot of land. Attorney Robert Eugene Grimm attended the hearing on behalf of the Marunyaks. Grimm explained that the 15-foot variance that was needed for the side property would affect only the Marunyaks, because they own the neighboring property. Grimm said the area has a newly constructed sewage system, and additional units will benefit the debt service needed to pay for it.
ZHB member Charles Cieszynski, mayor of Smithfield, said that with the elderly population in Smithfield, the units are needed. Cieszynski voted on the motion but only after asking if there were any objections to him doing so. The motion passed unanimously, with Cieszynski, Mark Morrison and Pete Broskey voting for it.
The board also granted a special exception for a sewage pumping station for the North Union Township Municipal Services. Jim Hercik, chairman of the North Union Township Municipal Services board, said the agency is installing sewers in the Hopwood area, adding 840 households. He said the pumping station, to be located on property owned by the Soberdash family, will handle sewage from 450 homes.
Engineer Glenn Wolf said the 12- by 20-foot building will be a “typical sanitary sewer pump station” that will have a fence around it. Hercik said the facility will include a sealed, watertight pump and will be odorless. Wolf said only minor noise will come from the station.
In addition to the special exception, the board approved a variance from minimum lot size, width and area.
In other business, the authority heard testimony from Kirk D. and Julie Dewar of North Union Township, who plan to build a 24- by 40-foot garage on their property.
Kirk Dewar said he has to construct the garage at the proposed site due to the locations of sewer and gas lines.
Neighbor Helen Smitley suggested that Dewar construct the garage at the site of a former garage, which would be farther away from her home.
The board deferred taking action on the request. It has 45 days to make a decision.
The board granted use variances for Atlas America Inc. to drill three natural gas wells on two separate R2 zoned properties in Redstone Township.
The action was taken after a hearing in which neighboring property owner Joseph Sanfilippo said he believes Atlas is putting the wells close to his property because he declined to sign a lease with the company. He said gas can be brought through lines from great distances.
When Sanfilippo said Atlas is attempting to siphon gas from under his property because he retains his mineral rights, Morrison said the board can deal only with evidence, not “supposition and surmise.”
Michael Adams of Atlas said the state minimum distance requirement is 330 feet, and he said the wells are more than that distance from Sanfilippo’s property.
“Our plan is not to crowd your property because you won’t lease with us. This placement of wells has nothing to do with your property,” Adams said.
Solicitor Gretchen Mundorff verified that the wells meet the setback requirements before the board voted to grant the use variances.