Dec 30, 2011 By Amy Revak heraldstandard.Com 2 min read

A request by a landfill company in German Township to change the zoning of its property from business to manufacturing did not gain the approval of the Fayette County commissioners on Thursday.

The zoning request is to change the current B-1 (business) designation for Veolia ES Chestnut Valley Landfill to an M-1 (light industrial) zone. Although Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites made a motion to approve the request, it died due to a lack of a second.

Dean Mori, general manager for Veolia, said the company is requesting the zoning change because an additional maintenance building is being built and large trucks will be parking on the property.

Later in the meeting, Vicites said he thought it was a “travesty” to deny the zoning change.

Commission Chairman Vincent Zapotosky said that because there wasn’t a vote, it was not denied, and could be brought before the commissioners again.

Vicites, who is leaving office at the end of the year, said he was the only commissioner who sat in on the hearing, and questioned if another hearing was required prior to a vote.

Assistant county solicitor Sheryl Heid said the commissioners can review the transcript and vote on the request at a later time.

Mori said the use of the landfill will not change.

Mori pointed out that the county planning commission unanimously recommended the change to the site, located along Route 21. Mori said he was previously told the B-1 zoning was adequate.

However, the company was then cited because of keeping the large vehicles and large garbage containers on site.

Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink then made a motion to table the request, with Zapotosky providing a second. The vote to table the request was approved 2-1, with Vicites voting against it.

In January, Al Ambrosini will join Zapotosky and Zimmerlink on the board of commissioners.

In another zoning matter, the commissioners approved a zoning change for Fay-Penn Economic Development Council in Upper Tyrone Township from A-1 (agricultural rural) to M-1.

Vicites and Zapotosky voted in favor of the request, with Zimmerlink voting against it.

Vicites said Fay-Penn has received a $1.8 million loan to develop an industrial park at the northern end of the county.