Expecting that a "typo" would soon be removed from proposed changes to the Straban Township zoning ordinance, the Rev. Marvin Stanley said he was confident that the church where he serves as pastor would be allowed to expand its facility as planned.
The Freedom Valley Worship Center pastor said he had felt "relief" after a public hearing last week, when he and other members of the church learned the language in question may not have even been intentional.
But that was before Monday's meeting.
Not only was the proposal intentional, but it also dates back to January 2008 - when the first proposed zoning amendments were being recorded on paper.
Township Solicitor Walton Davis said the change had not been "bolded" in later drafts as other proposed amendments had been.
"Now it's a real concern," Stanley told supervisors.
Freedom Valley Worship Center officials want to double the size of the church's Route 30 facility, including an indoor arena where Shining Stars Therapeutic Riding Ministry could operate year-round. The program for the physically and mentally disabled uses horseback riding as a therapy method.
Church members realized just last week that the township's zoning-ordinance proposal would prevent Freedom Valley Worship Center from expanding its facility by more than 20 percent - a change from a 50-percent limit in the current law. The change would apply to all non-conforming uses, which includes the church.
At the public hearing a week ago, Davis said township officials were "a little bit embarrassed" to hear about what they thought could have been a typographical error. Some church members said they left feeling confident the matter would be resolved.
But upon further review, Davis said there were legitimate reasons for the expansion-limit change, and that's why it remained in the draft. To appease the church, he said the supervisors could do either of two things - make places of worship a permitted use in the township's commercial district or increase the expansion limit to 50 percent for all non-conforming uses.
Both are significant changes, however, and would require another public hearing and advertisement, Davis said.
He also noted that the Shining Stars therapy program would now be considered a permitted use in the commercial district and could therefore expand as planned.
Because the township had already been working on the amendments for 15 months, all three supervisors said they wanted to take action Monday as planned. Supervisor Sharon Hamm said the zoning ordinance was delaying other projects, like updating the township's subdivision and land development ordinance.
The supervisors ultimately voted 3-0 to adopt the zoning ordinance in its current form, including the 20-percent expansion limit for non-conforming uses. But they also vowed to revisit the issue in upcoming months and consider reopening the process to further amendments.
"There's no reason we can't do amendments in the future," Board Chairman Troy Martin said.
ejames@eveningsun.com
