Commissioner candidates offers thoughts on county zoning office
The two incumbents and two challengers seeking to serve on the next board of Fayette County commissioners recently expressed differing views on keeping zoning in the hands of the county.
The county Office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development has recently come under fire for not enforcing the zoning ordinance and for selective enforcement.
In regards to the issue of continuing countywide zoning and the often-criticized office, the candidates differed on how zoning should be handled. The candidates discussed zoning as part of a recent candidates forum before the HeraldStandard.com editorial board.
Seeking the position are incumbent Democratic Chairman Vincent Zapotosky, incumbent Republican Angela M. Zimmerlink, Democratic challenger Al Ambrosini and Republican challenger Dave Lohr.
The county office handles zoning for 31 municipalities and 11 municipalities handle their own.
Zimmerlink said she always has maintained that zoning should be done on the local level.
Yet, she said there shouldn’t be selective enforcement if the county handles zoning. She said when she took that stand before, the county was hit with lawsuits.
Zimmerlink specifically and the county generally were sued by members of the Cellurale family of Dunbar Township over allegations of selective zoning enforcement and the county paid $150,000 to settle the lawsuit.
Zimmerlink said that the zoning ordinance needs to be enforced consistently, which is what she always has maintained.
Ambrosini noted that with some municipalities handling their own zoning, there are two systems in place in the county. He said he would lean toward the municipalities doing their own zoning, but it is important to have the right people who are “impartial and willing to abide by the rules and regulations.”
Lohr said it would be good for the municipalities to do their own zoning because local leaders know their own areas best. But he said no matter how it is handled, it must be enforced across the board. Lohr said his cousin is a code enforcement officer who refuses to do favors, and everyone should handle the job the same way.
Zapotosky said he would entertain changing the current system so zoning decisions could be made on the local level. He said he would like to have the county handling administrative functions, with a split of five or six regions of the county handling the zoning in those respective areas.
Zapotosky said people in an area such the Masontown and German Township know better what is in their best interest than people from North Union Township and Uniontown.
“I would like to change it for local people to make the decisions,” Zapotosky said.