The Hamilton Township Zoning Hearing Board (ZHB) unanimously denied a developer’s application for two zoning matters that would have allowed the development of a 620,000 square foot warehouse to move forward.
The project, proposed by NOBPA, LLC, was to be located at the cross section of Rt. 94 and Rt. 30 and include a warehouse and two restaurant buildings. The commercial zone of Hamilton Township, where it is located, allows warehouse uses with the grant of a special exception.
The Zoning Hearing Board denied the developer’s request for this special exception on the basis that it did not meet the requirements for a special exception as laid out in the township’s ordinance.
They also voted to deny the variance request, which would have waived setback requirements, on the basis that “the applicant did not prove that there was a hardship.”
According to the township’s code, a variance may be granted, when a feature of the property, not created by the applicant, means that adhering to the zoning ordinance would cause “unnecessary hardship.”
The applicant will have 30 days to appeal the decisions after the ZHB’s solicitor sends all parties a copy of the board’s findings.
Before delivering their decision, the ZHB introduced themselves, and sought to provide some clarification for the public on their role.
Chair Dustin Speelman said, “Everyone has the opportunity to speak their opinion on the decision at hand. Every applicant has the opportunity to present their information in an effort to receive approval. Whether it is popular with the community or not, this is their time, which cannot be revoked by the Zoning Hearing Board, and will be their time until they close their submission.”
He reminded the public that the Zoning Hearing Board did not create the Township’s zoning ordinance, but were merely a board of volunteers tasked with interpreting it, in order to create checks and balances in the process.
“We understand there are times when applicants are going to create highly-charged emotions, such as this one. But there is a due process which must be followed to a conclusion. The process is set forth by Hamilton Township and is required by Pennsylvania state law,” he said.
Please understand that anyone sitting in the audience tonight as well as any Hamilton Township resident would receive the same respect and consideration if the need for a variance or an exception on the zoning ordinance were ever required.”
The ZHB thanked the community for attending the “marathon” hearings and encouraged residents to be involved in their local governance by attending Board of Supervisors meetings.
The ZHB heard brief, five-minute closing arguments from the attorneys for the applicant, the objectors, and Hamilton Township.
Throughout the application process, the warehouse project received strong pushback from the objectors party, made up of property owners near the site, who argued that granting the developer’s zoning requests would have caused harm to the community. They were represented by an attorney, Nathan Wolf, who argued that the applicant’s application contained multiple deficiencies and was not sufficient to meet the requirements on the Hamilton Township ordinance requirements.
Catalina Righter, freelance reporter, lives in New Oxford. She previously wrote for the Carroll County Times and the Kent County News, covering crime, education, local government and arts. She works as a legal assistant.
Thank you board!