Somerset commissioners: Countywide zoning laws 'antiquated'
Apr. 26—SOMERSET, Pa. — Somerset County's commissioners said Thursday the time has passed for the county's need to oversee zoning on two busy corridors.
Commissioners Brian Fochtman, Irv Kimmel Jr. and Pamela Tokar-Ickes met for a zoning meeting Thursday and listened as Zoning Officer Chadd Sines outlined his pitch to drop both the U.S. Route 219 and state Route 31 West zoning ordinances.
Sines said the ordinances saddle the county planning office with four to eight hours a week in phone calls and research about matters that often clash with the countywide land development ordinance — and oftentimes raise local — not county — questions.
"The municipalities know their own communities a lot better than we do," Sines said. "If they want to adopt zoning, that's something we can help them with."
In fact, in the 54 years since the county first enacted an ordinance regulating zoning along several Route 219 interchanges, eight boroughs or townships — including Somerset, Conemaugh Township, Windber and Paint Borough — have done just that.
Somerset's commissioners said Thursday's meeting was meant to serve as an information gathering session — and a board decision will be made at a future commissioners board meeting.
But in interviews with The Tribune- Democrat, each of the commissioners said they agreed the zoning laws "seem antiquated" and, as-is, could be challenged as unenforceable "spot zoning."
The county initiated the Route 219 regulations in 1970. Commissioners adopted the Route 31 regulations in 2012.
In doing so, the laws were designed to regulate the type, size and height of signs and structures along each corridor.
Kimmel noted the county's Land Development ordinance already covers much of the regulations designed to ensure development is done so responsibly.
"This is an opportunity to try to lessen the 'red tape' in the county," Fochtman said, noting it will streamline the process for property owners to move projects forward.
Route 31 west zoning
Route 31 travels east and west, linking Somerset Borough to Westmoreland County and traveling past some of Somerset County's ski resorts, among its biggest tourist draws.
The plan was designed to help preserve some of the corridor's rural nature — particularly from over-sized billboards and similar signs.
But Tokar-Ickes, who supported the plan at the time, said developers were able to quickly get signs approved while the county was taking the legal steps required to properly adopt the law in 2012.
"In the end ... it didn't accomplish what we set out to do," she said, adding that there really hasn't been any enforcement since.
Route 219 interchange
Tokar-Ickes said Somerset County commissioners boards have debated off and on for years about the usefulness and need for the zoning laws.
And more specifically, with the Route 219 interchange zoning law, it has reached the point that the ordinance either needed amended to include more recent interchanges, such as the Meyersdale exit, or dropped altogether.
Sines said the law covers approximately 8,800 acres of land within a mile of land near Route 219's interchanges with routes 30, 281 and 601 but often clashes with the newer Land Development ordinance within those corridors, among them, setback guidelines.
Other elements, such as language regulating the placement of billboards and other roadside signs, could be rolled into the land development ordinance, Sines said.
Thursday's public hearing was set to provide community officials, residents and others a chance to provide their opinions about the move. It's a required precursor for counties when changes to ordinances are being considered.
The meeting drew just three people and no one had any questions for the board during the meeting's public comment sessions.
"The goal is to encourage development," Tokar-Ickes said, in agreement with Kimmel and Fochtman, "and I think with the completion of Route 219, (the community) will see that over time."
