Meeting on controversial Red Lion Country Club site rezoning rescheduled
The York Township Board of Commissioners has rescheduled a meeting to hear public comment about a proposed rezoning of land that housed the former Red Lion Country Club, and a new location for the meeting has also been approved due to the number of residents planning to attend.
The public hearing for this petition was originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 13, but the applicant pulled the petition in order to request a new location for the meeting. Now, it will be held at 6 p.m., Thursday, July 6 at Dallastown Area Middle School auditorium, located at 700 New School Lane, Dallastown.
A petition to stop the development of homes on that land, 150 Country Club Road in York Township, has gained over 1,200 signatures.
The Red Lion Country Club sits on land that was purchased in 1937, but it has not been open for years. It was purchased by the Red Lion Area School District in 2006 for $5.2 million but is now for sale for $1.6 million. According to the petition, started by Nikki Wever on Change.org, Catalyst Commercial, LLC plans to buy 58 acres of the land to build a large housing development. This land has been used by students for science and sports, the petition claims.
The developer wants to build nine homes per acre, according to the petition, which equates to more than 340 homes.
In addition to the petition, a lawsuit has been filed seeking an injunction to prevent the development of this land. Eric Maloney filed the lawsuit and founded the SCPA Conservancy to raise awareness of what he says is the county's "reckless indifference" to the environmental issues surrounding clean drinking water.
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Currently, the property is zoned for commercial office use, but the developer is asking to rezone it to residential high density, according to a public hearing notice from the board. A meeting is being held to hear public comment before a decision on the rezoning is made.
Per the notice, the board will make a decision about rezoning the parcel of land within 60 days from June 1.
The York County Planning Commission recommended against the developer's proposal for this site at its March meeting because it does not align with the surrounding properties and would damage the value of the land.
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Residents against this rezoning change have taken to Facebook to organize. In multiple posts, people have shared that their main concerns about this development were high traffic congestion, increased risk of crime, overpopulation, burden on fire, police and EMS services, crowding in schools, loss of valuable educational space, drinking water contamination, loss of biodiversity and loss of local history.
Per the new meeting notice, the board may approve the rezoning after the hearing, or they may take a vote within 60 days of July 6.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Meeting on rezoning of Red Lion PA Country Club rescheduled
