Rezoning proposal withdrawn for third time
A request to rezone property on Leisenring/Vanderbilt Road owned by Harry Sampey from agricultural rural to general business was abruptly withdrawn at the beginning of a public hearing earlier this month. According to attorney Richard Bower, an agreement between Sampey and Family Links Inc. was terminated because of “physical conditions” on the property. The rezoning wasn’t needed without an agreement to open the center.
Plans were to use the 7,200-square-foot building as a 28-bed facility for women for a voluntary continuation of rehabilitation in which the women who would be enrolled are taught how to stay clean, according to Family Links officials.
Officials of Family Links previously testified that the women’s site would be a drug- and alcohol-free facility where women could stay as long as six months. Officials said some of the women may have children staying with them at the site, and programs also are made available for children.
Fayette County Commission Chairman Vincent Zapotosky called the rezoning hearing to order after dozens of people filed into the meeting room of the public safety building. Bower then promptly announced that the petition would be withdrawn.
Applause then filled the room after the withdrawal statement was made.
By retracting the application, Bower essentially took the same action he did earlier this year when he agreed to withdraw the application after attorney Donald McCue insisted that it was incorrectly advertised because of a discrepancy regarding how much property was to be rezoned.
However, unlike in April, Bower did not vow to refile the request.
Bower’s decision to withdraw in April came at the conclusion of more than two hours of testimony after it was discussed that the parcel in the legal advertisement only contains 3.69 acres and Family Links was requesting more than five acres.
Bower said in April that the request was definitely not for drug rehabilitation and is a totally different facility than the one Sampey was seeking the prior rezoning for. In October 2007, Sampey had sought a rezoning request from A1 to R2, high-density residential, and plans were to make a facility a halfway house for recovering male alcohol and drug users.
The building on the site was used by Nu-Metrics until it moved to a larger building. Nu-Metrics Inc. manufactures traffic control devices and is now located across from Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
When the first hearing on the proposed rezoning was heard, neighbors testified against the request and a petition signed by 600 people was presented opposed to the change.