Salem Township Planning Commission recommends seven SALDO modifications for Demary lot revision, tables Ross & Steel

The Salem Township Planning Commission voted Feb. 4 to accept the Jeffrey L. Demary lot‑line revision application as administratively complete and recommended seven modifications to the township's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO) to allow the proposed lot configuration.

The commission, meeting at the municipal building in Greensburg, heard from surveyor David Lentz and discussed five exception requests submitted by the applicant. Commissioners Paul Holleran, John Wright and Chair Connie Mattei voted unanimously to forward a written request to the Board of Supervisors seeking exemptions including: relief from minimum lot‑size and frontage requirements for two lots, setback relief for existing buildings and appurtenances, an exemption to allow a 40‑foot private right‑of‑way rather than the 50‑foot SALDO minimum, and permission to use the surveyor's preferred drawing scale rather than the SALDO's specified scale.

Commissioners also required plan revisions and notes before the Board considers the modification request. Among items the commission directed the applicant to add to the plan were instrument numbers for each property, the existing and proposed lot areas shown within lot boundaries, labeling the water line as "public" where applicable, annotating an existing 35‑foot right‑of‑way as "to be extinguished," and showing courses and distances for the proposed 40‑foot right‑of‑way. The commission asked that a non‑building waiver and a site inspection of an existing holding tank by the township SEO be completed before the commission can sign a Non‑Building Declaration.

"The first thing is to address all the requests for modifications," Chair Connie Mattei told the applicant's surveyor during the discussion, noting the commission planned to take each requested modification in turn before forwarding recommendations to the supervisors.

The meeting also included a separate procedural motion to table the Ross & Steel lot‑line revision because owner John Steel was not present and no notarized affidavit authorizing Joseph Ross to act on his behalf was provided. That motion passed unanimously.

What happens next: the Planning Commission's recommendations on the Demary plan will be sent to the Board of Supervisors for consideration; the applicant must revise the plan with the requested notes and secure any required inspections and waivers before the Planning Commission can finalize non‑building declarations.