Rezoning proposal sparks community uproar in Marion Township
HOWARD — It was standing room only recently in the Marion Township Municipal Building when residents gathered to oppose a proposed rezoning ordinance.
Numerous residents pressed supervisors at a public hearing held Sept. 3 to slow down, study impacts and protect the rural character of their community before opening large stretches of farmland to highway commercial use.
Marion Township Solicitor Louis Glantz opened the hearing by emphasizing that no development application is pending and no vote would be taken at the hearing.
“There’s a proposed rezoning and I’ll explain why,” Glantz said. “It has nothing directly to do with any application because there is no application. Every township in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is required to have a zone for everything. If you don’t, any developer can come in and say, ‘I want to plop my truck stop right there,’ and you can’t stop me because your ordinance is exclusionary. The bottom line is, you have to have a commercial district.”
While no official application has been made, a June 11 township meeting discussed Scranton-based travel plaza company Onvo that was looking at 16 acres in that area for potential commercial development. At the meeting, it was stated that Onvo was ready to proceed with plans if the rezoning was approved, and on July 9 it was stated that Onvo would cover township expenses associated with rezoning.
Glantz said the township’s existing commercial area centered on the interchange near Bellefonte is effectively disappearing as the state Dept. of Transportation converts it to a high-speed connection between interstates 99 and 80. He added that officials are considering “significantly reducing the size of the commercial area” contemplated in a draft map and limiting it to one side of Walt Road, but those details have not been finalized.
He also noted potential conditions that could be embedded in zoning such as screening, setbacks and strict limits on noise and lighting, or may be required later through a conditional use process for larger sites.
Water concerns
Residents urged the board to prioritize water, traffic and safety before redrawing the map.
“My name is Andrea Royer and I’ve been a resident of Marion Township for the past 12 years,” Royer said. “I am not against progress. I’m not against development. I’m against development without information. I’m against development without us having some sort of plan in place that gives us control over what happens. I’m asking you to please pause this, think about what fits for our community and make sure that our ordinances are in place before we just start rezoning.”
Several speakers referenced reliance on private wells and the risk of contamination or increased runoff if hundreds of acres are paved.
“We do not have a water system other than wells. And once they go, we’re done,” longtime resident Ken Rhone said, urging environmental review and coordination with state regulators.
“I respectfully ask that you please take the time to do an impact study on how rezoning this area would affect our health, our safety and our welfare,” said resident Hope Frey. “I also am concerned about having clean water. Drinking water not only in quantity, but also in quality, as well as what the potential impact will be on my property of the increased runoff which will occur once 250 acres or however many acres of farmland and wooded land are paved for commercial use.”
Lisa Ford, who said she lives less than 2,000 feet from the proposed area and worked in real estate and risk management at Penn State, questioned whether the proposal aligns with regional planning documents and local infrastructure.
“We do not have public water. We do not have public sewer,” she said. “Don’t put our water at risk.” Ford had submitted written materials from PennDOT to the board for review. “Part of PennDOT’s reasoning and support for being able to build that interchange stated that they knew that this was a rural area. We are not prepared for this scale of development.”
Ford continued, “That environmental report clearly states the local access interchange is not likely to attract significant commercial development plans as there are no plans to extend public water or sewer infrastructure in this area.”
Matt Ford asked supervisors to defer action until more information is gathered and after November’s election, when two of the three seats could turn over.
“This is the most significant decision regarding the future of how the township builds itself out,” he said. “This needs to wait.”
Traffic and safety
Others cited traffic on Jacksonville Road, the safety of Amish neighbors using horse-drawn buggies, light pollution, noise from trucks and worries about crime associated with interstate-oriented businesses.
A recurring question from the audience was to designate how many acres are necessary for commercial development that is legally necessary. Numbers of 40 to 45 acres were mentioned by solicitor Glantz.
“Can we limit that commercial rezone as to what we allow?” resident Michelle Sweeley asked. “A grocery store, possibly Amish markets? A truck stop does not benefit any of these people here.”
Glantz said one approach could be to require conditional use approval for “large-scale development,” for example projects over five acres, which would trigger case-by-case hearings and impact studies.
“You can also write into the ordinance conditions like screening, sound barriers,” he said. “Nothing’s 100%, but you can put all those conditions in. That’s what, in my mind, is more important to the community.”
Second hearing planned
Citing the size of the crowd and the number of speakers, officials said the hearing will be continued to allow more testimony and at a larger venue. Glantz said the township will seek to reconvene the hearing during the week of Sept. 24 at the Howard Fire Hall at 5:30 p.m. pending a vote at the supervisors’ Sept. 10 meeting to re-advertise and confirm the time and place. Written comments and exhibits may also be submitted.
“The supervisors are here to listen,” Glantz said. “What you really ought to be looking at is the conditions that go into the district. But if you leave it exclusionary, it’s too late.”
Residents asked the board to post updated maps and any proposed conditions on the township website ahead of any vote.
