Crafton planning commission pauses Thomas Street zoning decision after staff says most lots are nonconforming

The Crafton Borough Planning Commission on Feb. 3 paused action on recommended zoning changes for Thomas Street after staff said a detailed parcel analysis is not yet complete and would be presented at the next meeting.

Borough Manager Jim Price told the commission that the borough mailed Thomas Street residents letters explaining two possible paths: retain a residential designation (Community Residential, CR, or Neighborhood Residential, NR under the proposed code) or move the area to mixed use. “We sent everybody on Thomas Street a letter, laying out the 2 choices that we have,” Price said. He said the borough received six written responses from residents, all asking to remain residential, and that he is preparing an impact analysis the commission asked for.

The analysis Price described compares the proposed draft zoning standard (40-foot lot width and 4,000 square-foot minimum) with smaller alternatives such as a 30-foot / 3,000-square-foot standard. Price said his preliminary tally shows that dropping the minimum to 3,000 square feet would allow only one additional previously vacant property to be developed boroughwide and that roughly half of borough parcels are already nonconforming under the draft rules. “If we drop it to 3,000 square feet… only allows…