The Gettysburg Borough Planning Commission has set Oct. 18 as a tentative date for a town hall meeting to discuss a major rezoning it is considering.
The meeting will be held in the Charlie Sterner building at the Gettysburg rec park.
The new zoning plan will replace the current plan, which dates from 2008 and which doesn’t include many newer uses, resulting in numerous requests for special exceptions.
“The new zoning will be a lot easier for the average user to understand and navigate,” said Borough Planning Director Carly Marshall.
A major goal of the new plan is to reduce the four current zoning overlays to two, leaving only the historic district and floodplain overlays. The Elm Street and streetscape enhancement overlays would be dropped.
The plan includes four residential districts – low, moderate, and high density, and preservation. Other proposed districts include mixed-use commercial, Old Town, and revitalization areas, as well as districts that support institutions, healthcare, and industrial uses.
Traffic study for proposed Gettysburg Station apartment complex
The commission discussed the scope of a proposed traffic study regarding a planned new development at Stratton and Carlisle Streets, which will include eating establishments, apartment buildings, and retail space. The commission felt the scope presented by the Gettysburg Station applicants did not adequately address traffic concerns that will be generated in the areas of Stratton and Lincoln and Stratton and Water Street. One resident voiced a concern that the new transit station would also change the face of the neighborhood by creating more traffic. Marshall and borough engineer Chad Claybaugh will meet with PennDOT and the project applicants, 501 Richardson Acquisition, LLC, to decide the final needs for the study.
Vacation rental variance request
Planning commission members voted unanimously to advise the Gettysburg zoning board not to accept a variance use exception that would allow a vacation rental at 44 South Street.
Borough Planning Director Carly Marshall explained that when a zoning ordinance requires a variance, the planning commission reviews the request before making a recommendation to the zoning board who make the final decision. That meeting will take place Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The property was purchased in May, originally to be used by the owners’ son, who will attend Gettysburg College in the fall. However, after learning that would not be possible, the owners, Michael and Christine Villanti of New York, decided to use it as a short-term rental. Before they had even done so, however, they received a cease and desist order stating that short-term rentals are not allowed in the R-2 area. Christine Villanti said their real estate agent assured them the house could be used for short-term rentals.
At the planning commission meeting, Craig Sharnetzka, attorney for the buyers, told members of the planning commission that the owners had been misled about the property use in the R-2 Residential District. He added that the property is only 42 feet from a zoning district permitting short-term rentals, so a variance would not alter the neighborhood’s essential character.
David Sites, owner of Sites Realty, the listing agency, said that although the property was their listing, it was sold by a realtor from a different firm. “I never met them before settlement,” he said, adding that all of the zoning information was available in the MLS contract sent to the realtor who sold the property.
Marshall said that while the zoning board will consider the commission’s recommendation, it will make its decision based on strict state variance guidelines. Only if the zoning ordinance is determined to impose an “unnecessary hardship” on the property, as determined by five specific criteria, will the zoning board grant a variance.
The attorney for the owners, Craig Sharnetzka, Eequire, CGA Law Firm, declined to comment on the pending matter.
Following the decision, the owners urged the commission to educate local realtors about giving their clients correct information.
Charles Strauss, planning commission chair, said they are “supportive” of the realtors in town. He encouraged prospective buyers to visit the Planning Commission website, which he described as a place where zoning ordinances can be found using an interactive map.
More information on short-term rentals can be found at https://www.gettysburgpa.gov/planning-zoning-code-enforcement-historic-preservation-environmental-preservation/faq/what-required.
Judith Cameron Seniura is a freelance reporter. She began her journalism career in the early ‘70s and has written for newspapers, magazines, and other media in Ontario, Canada, Alaska, Michigan, Nebraska, San Antonio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
It will be important to attend the public town hall meeting about the draft rezoning document. It is currently scheduled to be at the Rec Park on Oct. 18. This broad effort does not happen very often, and this is an opportunity to update, correct contradictions due to piece-meal changes, and to reflect current conditions and needs of the community.