Present:  Kate Bouman, Larry Harvilchuck, Fran Fruehan, Jen Gregory, Tom Swan, Brian Gardner, Steve Whitmore, Jerry Derham.

The Silver Lake Township Planning Commission and Ad Hoc Committee held a work session on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at the Silver Lake Township Building.  Mr. Harvilchuck called the work session to order at 7:30 pm. 

Mr. Harvilchuck read the minutes from the March 11, 2009 meeting and the committee members present approved them with corrections. Mr. Freuhan questioned the parlance of low-impact versus no-impact, with an emphasis on consistency in definitions so that any future review of the minutes will be clear as to the intent at the time of the original meeting. Mr. Fruehan attended a zoning meeting in Choconut at which Mr. Helfrich was also present. According to Mr. Helfrich, property tax classification and zoning are two different entities. This distinction was a concern to a number of individuals.  Designating an area in a certain fashion does not affect the property assessment. However, if an individual is in an RA District, for example, and has a thriving commercial enterprise, the county will probably assess the property as commercial.  If the use has evolved outside of the no-impact home occupation, then the business should have to conform to a minimal set of standards.

This meeting started looking at the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO).  The current SALDO (Ordinance No. 20) is also posted on the website for reference. A copy of the proposed NTC SALDO was provided.  Some opening comments – the original SALDO was adopted under a very different Municipality Planning Code (MPC) and perhaps the best approach is to modify the 2008 proposed NTC version. The critical data in the current ordinance (lot sizes and setbacks) should be incorporated in to the proposed ordinance instead of trying to fix the current Ordinance No. 20.  Brian Gardner works with these SALDOs just about every day and Mr. Harvilchuck asked for his comments.  Mr. Gardner said there were certain items that aren’t typically dealt with – commercial properties and cell towers- in the current Ordinance No. 20.  In these cases, Mr. Gardner said they refer to Susquehanna County’s SALDO.  Mr. Gardner would like to take certain items out of the county’s ordinance and put them into the Silver Lake Township ordinance – particularly the section related to commercial development.  Mr. Swan has read the proposed NTC ordinance and the county’s ordinance and recommended the NTC ordinance be put aside and concentrate on the county’s SALDO as the example.  Put in the lot size, set backs and the administrative part into what the county has adopted and work from there.  Mr. Freuhan spoke and said he agreed with Mr. Swan.  It was agreed to use the Susquehanna County SALDO as the working draft and changes will be incorporated in to the current text to meet the specific needs of Silver Lake Township.  The county ordinance would then work consistently with the township ordinance.  Mrs. Bouman had marked some points in the ordinance she would like to see addressed—the “Purpose” in Article I, section 103.  Mrs. Bouman also cited Article VI – Design Standards and Specficiations; this section might direct the subdivider to preserve the waterways.  Lighting was addressed in the county ordinance, but not to the extent that Mrs. Bouman would like to see it addressed.  This may have to be covered in a separate ordinance.  Mrs. Bouman would also like to see some guidelines regarding commercial properties and requiring cell tower or wind energy companies to put funds into an escrow in the event a cell tower or wind energy tower would need to be taken down.  Article VIII Land Conservation and Multi-Family Developments should also be reviewed very carefully.  Mrs. Bouman noted that the conservation design developments should be considered on the basis of buildable area, not just total surface area.

Once the ordinance is completed, enforcement is going to be an issue; this will be taken up at the next work session. For the next work session, Mr. Harvilchuck asked everyone continue to review the county’s ordinance and especially take note of Mrs. Bouman’s comments and concerns. 

The meeting day has been changed.  The work sessions will be on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm and the township building; the work session for the 3rd Tuesday of the month will start after the regular Planning Commission meeting.  The meeting schedule will also be posted on Silver Lake Township’s website.  Mr. Harvilchuck adjourned the work session at 8:30 pm.