Planning panel presses BCPC to protect buffers, map quarry and account for proposed 200-unit development

During a review of draft chapters on Feb. 7, East Rockhill Planning Commission members pressed BCPC staff to tighten land-use definitions and protections.

Commissioner Dave Nyman argued the draft’s agricultural land definition was too narrow because it limited agricultural classification to parcels of 20 acres or more; he and other commissioners said smaller farms and agricultural lots in the township should be eligible for the agricultural category. Commissioners also recommended removing the land-use comparison chart if definitions change, because the chart would compare uses under inconsistent definitions.

The commission advised BCPC to show the township quarry as mining on the land-use map, to separate manufacturing from mining and to classify manufacturing parcels as industrial land use rather than conflating categories.

Nyman urged the commission not to accept BCPC recommendations that would weaken the township’s steep-slope and riparian-buffer requirements. Commissioners discussed increasing riparian buffer Zone 1 to about 50 feet and Zone 2 to about 90 feet; Roedig recommended the plan call for increased widths but avoid specifying exact measurements until the township drafts a new ordinance.

The commission expressed interest in BCPC’s recommended changes to forestry regulations, including more restrictive clear-cutting standards, and agreed to recommend removing Fraxinus species from the township’s permitted street-tree list because of invasive-pest susceptibility and treatment cost. Mr. Nyman asked that the township engineer review the street-tree recommendation.

On housing, BCPC told the commission the township is reviewing a sketch plan for a 200-dwelling-unit development and that housing-projection numbers should include units from the proposed development.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:02 p.m.