OIL CITY, Pa. — There was no community feedback during a public hearing in Oil City on Thursday concerning Webco’s request to rezone a couple of parcels of property the company recently bought near their current operations.
Webco bought the properties at 351 Seneca Street (the former Genova’s restaurant); 327 Seneca Street (the former Drake Theatre); 349 Seneca Street; and 355 Seneca Street. All of the properties are near the company’s current location at 363 Seneca Street and are zoned C-2 Commercial. Webco is asking to have them rezoned I-2 Industrial.
“The plans for what they want to do there aren’t finalized,” said Rick Cook, the Oil City enforcement assistant/zoning person. “But, it is safe to say it will support the mission of Webco in the city.”
Kyle Herron of Webco told the Oil City Council that Webco is still determining what the property will be used for but his best guess would be that it would eventually be used for storage.
“I don’t believe the intention is to put manufacturing in that space,” Herron said. “I would think it might be something like storage or something down that way.”
Herron told the council the request for rezoning is so that those properties’ zoning will match the classifications other Webco properties.
He also said the purchase of the properties made sense for the company.
“We are landlocked as a company,” Herron said. “Any possibility to gain room is a benefit for Webco. Just receiving the property and the removal of a fence has gained a lot of flexibility.”
Herron said Webco is already using part of the old Genova building and a former auto body shop for storage.
City Manager Mark Schroyer asked about a pair of demolition permits Webco sought, and Herron said it was for the Genova building and the former auto body shop but that the company has put those plans on hold because they aren’t sure they can demolish those buildings without causing structural issues to their current building.
Cook was asked if the rezoning would be consistent with the zoning in the area, and he said it would “fit neatly” with what is there.
Herron was asked if the company has plans to use the parking lots that they bought, and he said the plan was to have them in use within the next month.
Councilman Ron Gustafson asked if changing it to I-1 would allow for any commercial uses of the property in terms of retail. Herron said he didn’t believe Webco had any plans to lease those properties to retail establishments.
The Council will take up an ordinance to rezone the properties at its July 12 meeting on a first-reading basis. If the ordinance passes at that meeting, a second and third reading will take place at the July 26 meeting.
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