MINUTES of MEETING
Durham Township Planning Commission
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Township Building Meeting Room
Attendees: Ken Klein, Tom Harbin, George Helwig, Jim Pavlica,
Cindy Skoriak and Lois Oleksa
Quorum: Yes
Secretary: Joseph M. Kulick
Absent: Pete Thomson
Township Zoning Officer Peter Bent and Township Engineer Scott Mease were also present.
Meeting called to order by Chairman Ken Klein at 7:32 PM. All in attendance stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag.
Approval of Minutes from 01-06-2009 Meeting:
Tom Harbin made a motion to accept the Minutes as presented; Jim Pavlica seconded the motion and George Helwig abstained (not present). All agreed. Minutes approved.
New Business:
Establish New Procedure/Parameters to Update Zoning & SALDO Ordinances:
Chairman Ken Klein presented the commission with a new plan to review/amend the present zoning and SALDO ordinances. Under his suggested method each member would be assigned a specific Article or category, research it and then report back to the commission. Also, a specific major item would be reviewed by the entire commission and followed through to completion. Each category would be reviewed at every monthly meeting until completed.
With the above in mind; the following members were assigned the below items to research:
Livestock & Farming Regulations/Provisions.................Jim Pavlica/George Helwig
Afforestation/Reforestation........................Lois Oleksa
Sexual Orientation Business’.....................Tom Harbin
Village Center/Durham Village Uses.........Ken Klein
Planned Industrial/Commercial District.....Pete Thomson
Limestone/Karst Region Regulations.........Cindy Skoriak/Lois Oleksa/Pete Thomson
Permitted Use Regulations (All Districts)...Ken Klein/Tom Harbin/Jim Pavlica
Re-Write Updated Definitions ...................Joe Kulick
Official Zoning Map Creation....................Peter Bent/Joe Kulick
The “Major” items that will be reviewed in order by the entire commission and followed through to completion are as follows:
There were no further comments and/or questions.
Old Business:
Zoning Ordinance Update: Creation of Resource/Agricultural Preservation (RAP) District:
Township Engineer Scott Mease gave a brief overview on past discussions of this districts purpose and intent; noting the primary goal of this region was to protect the natural resources and soil types found in the area. Also, clustering of development may be accomplished to preserve open space, i.e. 100% of allowable houses placed on only 40% of the land, thus the remaining 60% would remain as undeveloped open space/agricultural use land. Other ratios may be considered and/or adopted. Addressing the soil types in this region could be the only difference from our existing ordinance. Defining soil types found in our area is of major importance when developing the guidelines for this region. The township engineer will obtain up-to-date soil maps and present them at a later meeting. Zoning Officer Peter Bent suggested developing a soils map over-laid on our tax parcel map as to identify problem parcels. Scott Mease will attempt to provide such a map. Cindy Skoriak questioned the use of individual on-lot septic systems when clustering homes. This will need to be addressed in the regulations.
A similar RAP districts use & regulations from Bedminster Township was briefly reviewed and discussed. An important part of this document was defining soil types and the tract size suitable for farming purposes. They (Bedminster) identified several categories of development tracts varying in size and purpose, each with a different development vs. open space ratio, in their AP district. Jim Pavlica suggested identifying a particular parcel in the township as a “test case” and dissecting it to fit our RAP zoning; as it is very important to identify the suitability of the remaining undeveloped open space. Scott Mease will also provide a copy of the current Springfield Township districts use & regulations for the next meeting. Joe Kulick requested Scott to also provide a guideline/checklist for development of the new zone that the commission can follow in an orderly fashion. He will oblige. There were no further comments and/or questions.
Comments / Questions from the Floor: None
Closing:
A motion to Adjourn was made by George Helwig and seconded by Jim Pavlica, all were in favor. Meeting adjourned at @8:48 PM. Next meeting is scheduled for 03-03-2009.
Minutes Submitted By: Joseph M. Kulick, Recording Secretary
Minutes Approved: PC Meeting 03-03-2009