Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Timber Ordinance Review topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board moves timber-ordinance review to executive session after legal concerns about logging rules
Summary
Township manager cited a Dec. 21, 2018 Pennsylvania Attorney General letter and recommended vetting the township’s timber-harvest rules against Penn State’s model forestry regulations; the board voted to take the review into executive session because of potential litigation and to ask the Planning Commission to assist.
Township Manager Luke reviewed a recent denied logging permit and told supervisors the township’s supplemental zoning regulations for woodland protection were questioned in correspondence from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office. He said the AG office had concluded the township ordinance had numerous shortcomings and recommended adopting the Pennsylvania State University model forestry regulations as a clearer alternative.
"The Office of the Attorney General respectfully submits that instead of trying to cut around the edges of a fatally flawed ordinance the township adopt the Pennsylvania State University model forestry regulations," Luke said, summarizing language in the 2018 letter attached to the permit-denial packet.
Several supervisors and attendees raised practical concerns about adopting a model ordinance wholesale and about the timetable for revising code language to remain compliant with state law and best practices. One supervisor suggested handling strategy and potential litigation in executive session. The board voted to move the timber-ordinance review to an executive session and directed the township manager and Planning Commission to prepare recommended revisions, with a request that the work proceed promptly and not linger more than about 90 days.
Next steps: the board will schedule an executive session on the timber-ordinance review to discuss litigation concerns and then instruct the Planning Commission to prepare a version of a model ordinance tailored to East Brandywine; staff will advise the current applicant that review is underway.
