Déjà Vu All Over Again: Venango Co. Asks Franklin for Another Zoning Change

| August 6, 2019

FRANKLIN, Pa. (EYT) – Just months after requesting a zoning change for the area of Hillside Avenue and Chestnut Street so it could turn an old office building into a four-unit apartment complex, Venango County is asking for a separate zoning change for basically the same project in a different area of Franklin.

(Photo: The old Luthern Church in Franklin)

The County asked the Franklin City Council to change the zoning at the corner of Eighth Street and Elk Street from R-2, Residential District to C-1, Commercial District, after plans for the Hillside Avenue and Chestnut Street unit fell through.

Now, the County wants to buy the old Lutheran Church building, which is currently occupied by the Salvation Army, and turn it into a dual-purpose facility that would provide the County with meeting space for larger meetings, as well as taking the “educational” wing and turning it into three apartments. They would also use some of the building for storage space, according to Franklin Solicitor Brian Spaid.

“The County elected not to purchase (the building at Hillside Avenue and Chestnut Street),” Spaid said. “Instead, they would like to purchase this building.”

A source within the Venango County Government confirmed to exploreVenango.com that the County had elected not to purchase the building Spaid mentioned.

“There was a DEP issue with the Hillside Avenue and Chesnut Street location,” the source told exploreVenango. “There was some potential concern with having people living at the site. Because of that concern, the County didn’t go through with the purchase of the office building at the site.”

Spaid said while Venango County wanted the area zone C-1, the Franklin Zoning Board elected to change the zoning to a TRC, Transitional Residential District, rather than a C-1, and the County was okay with that decision.

“A TRC would match more of what that area is like than a C-1,” Spaid said. “It’s an area where a transition from a residential district to a commercial district is happening.”

Spaid said one of the concerns the Zoning board had was they didn’t want a commercial entity, a drug store, for instance, coming into the area if the county ends up not buying the building.

Council-member and Deputy Mayor Donna Fletcher expressed concerns over the proposal.

“I hope they (the County) do a better than they are doing in the 800 Block of Eighth Street,” Fletcher said noting a building the county bought there to use for housing doesn’t have a fire escape.

Franklin Code Enforcement Officer Charles Gibbons noted that the building isn’t required to have a fire escape.

Council-member Ryan Rudegair, who was just appointed to Council a couple of months ago, expressed concern of the County coming to the City and asking for another zoning change noting that it costs the City money in advertising and other fees every time a zoning change request is made.

“This is the third different zoning change I think in less than six months,” Rudegair said. “Two for the same project. I have a concern about that because of the cost to the City. This is another zoning change for the same project without an assurance that it (the project) will go through. I am not saying it isn’t necessary, I am saying there is a cost to the City.”

Mayor Doug Baker said he understood Rudegair’s concerns but also benefits to the zoning change.

“I understand what you are saying Ryan,” Baker said. “But the zoning changes make sense.”

According to Councilman Mike Dulaney, who is running for Venango County Commissioner, the concern Rudegair brought up was one of the reasons it took an hour for the decision to recommend granting the zoning change to happen and one of the reasons the zoning change wasn’t exactly what the County wanted.

In the end, the Council approved the zoning change on a fire-reading basis on a 5-2 vote with Fletcher and Rudegair voting against the change.

A public hearing on the change will now be held prior to the City Council meeting Monday, September 9, and the final reading on the zoning change will take place with another vote needed following that public hearing the same night.


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