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Supervisors back zoning officer, decline larger impervious increase for Compass Road building supply
Summary
After presentations from the applicant's attorney and engineer, the Honey Brook supervisors supported the township zoning officer's finding that the Compass Road building-supply operation does not qualify as a rural-occupation use and opposed the applicant's request to raise impervious coverage to 13.43%, while agreeing to allow the business to operate within the currently approved footprint.
Honey Brook '1 June 10 ' The board of supervisors spent extensive time on an application affecting 821—817 Compass Road, where the current building-supply operator seeks to clarify or expand rights that date back to a 2000 zoning hearing decision.
Legal and engineering teams for the applicant presented alternatives: (A) ask the Zoning Hearing Board to amend the 2000 decision, (B) seek variances under the township's rural-occupation rules, or (C) pursue a use variance allowing a retail/lumberyard principal use in an agricultural district.
Gretchen Sterns, counsel for the applicant, and engineer Heath Mockimer described on-site constraints, an intended hoop-barn storage building, truck turning needs and a traffic study that estimated roughly 50 trips per day. Sterns told the board the applicant's owner resides on-site and argued that fact supported rural-occupation consideration; the applicant also proposed a new storage building to reduce outside storage and improve circulation.
Board response and actions Supervisors ultimately voted to support the zoning officer's determination that the use does not meet current rural-occupation criteria, to oppose variances A1—5 if the zoning hearing board treats it as a rural occupation, and to decline an impervious-coverage increase from the prior 9.77% to 13.43%. The board did, however, say it would support continuing the existing use within the previously approved footprint.
Quote from the meeting: "If the zoning hearing board disagrees with you and says Jen's wrong, we're persuaded that this is in fact a rural occupation, they're going to ask for the five variances," a supervisor said during debate. The board recorded motions instructing the township solicitor to represent the township's positions at the Zoning Hearing Board.
Why it matters: The township's positions can materially affect whether the applicant is permitted to expand storage and impervious surfaces on a rural property. Impervious-coverage increases can trigger additional stormwater controls and affect downstream runoff.
Next steps: The case will move to the Zoning Hearing Board. The township solicitor has been authorized to present and advocate the board's positions; the applicant may present either an amended approach or pursue variances as an alternative path.
Provenance: Applicant presentations, Planning Commission background and the board's multiple recorded motions appear in the transcript of the June 10 meeting.
