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A request to rezone half of a 15-acre property on Davis Road near Juniata Gap Road from residential to agricultural crept closer to possible fulfillment, as the Logan Township supervisors authorized creation of a draft ordinance in a split vote.
The draft ordinance reflecting the wishes of Greg Denis will go before the Blair County Planning Commission for advisory review, will be advertised in the newspaper and will return to the supervisors at a subsequent meeting for a public hearing and a vote to adopt or reject.
Denis and neighbor Heather Fleck, who opposes the rezoning, argued their cases in a restrained manner prior to Supervisors Jim Patterson, Patrick Jones and Ron Heller voting in favor of the proposed change, with Joe Metzgar and Ed Frontino dissenting.
Denis wants the half of his ground closest to Juniata Gap Road to become agricultural, so that he can construct a building to house equipment that will enable him to cut hay on the property, which he then plans to sell.
He'll need the zoning change to do that, according to Planning Director Cassandra Schmick.
He may also plant fruit trees, but doesn't plan to keep animals, Denis has said.
Previous discussions had left the impression that Denis didn't need the rezoning to follow through on the plans to grow and cut hay.
He will also benefit from the rezoning by not having to follow residential building codes for the equipment building, and through an assessment reduction via the Clean and Green program, he said.
He also wants to build a house on what is now the residential side.
The agricultural half of his ground isn't suitable for construction, because it's covered with fill from the Juniata Gap Road extension project 50 years ago, he has said.
Denis, 47, said he plans to live out the rest of his life on the property, which has an agricultural history, being the site of a poultry farm for many years.
Fleck, whose residential property abuts the residential portion of Denis', doesn't mind having Denis as a neighbor, but fears that a future owner could use the property for any of the many agricultural uses permitted by the zoning ordinance, she said.
There's "no guarantee" that he'll live there as long as he hopes, according to Fleck.
Animals in the past that were kept by prior owners have come onto her property, causing damage, despite a stream and pond that Denis cited as a "buffer," she said.
Moreover, an agricultural designation is likely to reduce her property value, despite Denis' assertion that the house he plans to build would have the opposite effect, Fleck said.
And rezoning would violate precedent, given that several similar requests to change parcels from residential to agricultural were rejected by the supervisors in recent years, Fleck said.
The supervisors look at each case separately, on its own merits, Patterson replied.
The township should prioritize the wishes of residents like Fleck, who are already in place, over ones like Denis, who are new to a neighborhood, when the new entry asks for rezoning, Metzgar said.
Frontino voted against the rezoning proposal, rather than abstaining, despite his being Fleck's uncle by marriage, after he obtained a go-ahead from solicitor Dan Stants.
It's OK to vote provided Frontino has no financial interest in the matter, Stants said.
"I get nothing," Frontino said. "(Except) a lot of grief."
He has a history of voting in favor of residential protections anyway, Frontino pointed out.
Stants agreed.
Patterson complimented Dennis and Fleck for their measured presentations.
"This is a process," Patterson said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.