Planning commission recommends conditional approval of Bash estate subdivision

The Salem Township Planning Commission voted unanimously on March 5 to recommend conditional approval of a subdivision of property owned by the Estate of Lawrence F. Bash that would divide Westmoreland County Tax Map Parcel No. 57-06-00-0-001 (Salem Township) into Lot 1, Lot 2 and Lot 3 and subdivide portions of Loyalhanna Township Parcel No. 52-08-00-0-055 into Parcels A–D. The motion to recommend approval, made by Paul Holleran and seconded by John Durco, passed with all three commissioners present voting in favor.

Ryan Jones of Jones Consultants, who presented revised plans at the meeting, said the most recent revision removes an easement, adds roughly 2.8 acres to Lot 1 and attaches a small piece to Lot 3 so that "they didn't want to have any parcel that they owned in Salem Township left." Jones told the commission that Lots 1 and 3 each have primary and replacement sewage sites and "neither lot 1 or 3 should have non-buildable waivers because they have sewage planning from both of those lots. According to the DEP, these are valid subdivision buildable lots." The commission recorded an abutting resident, Julia Wnek of Maple Lodge Road, asked to review the plans during the meeting for clarification.

The commission enumerated technical and legal corrections that must be made before final approval. Required items include revising the Statement of Purpose and title block to read consistently as "The Estate of Lawrence F. Bash," relocating executrix contact information to the informational area outside the residual parcel, showing acreage portions that cross the Salem–Loyalhanna municipal boundary, adding road identification numbers for Bash and Fenneltown Roads, showing the township dividing line on Sheet 1, and adding a revision number and date. The panel also required a written 50-foot access and utility easement note be added to the plan covering ingress, egress and utility extension to Lot 1.

Before recordation the commission directed that: (1) a non-buildable waiver for Lot 2 be prepared and executed and submitted for review by the township SEO and supervisors; (2) planning modules for Lots 1 and 3 be submitted to the SEO, the supervisors and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for approval; and (3) the supervisors pass a resolution removing the affected areas of Lots 1 and 3 from the Agricultural Security Area. The commission's recommendation is advisory; final 승인 and any property recording actions must occur at the Board of Supervisors level and after the required waivers and DEP approvals are complete.