The Huntingdon County Planning Commission held a fairly routine monthly meeting last week, at which, several residential housing subdivisions were approved with very little hassle.
Planning director Richard Stahl told the board that one such subdivision, the Majestic Acres development, located in Warriors Mark Township and being developed by local contractor Bruce Cox, may have been the first to fall under the township’s new zoning ordinance; however, some initial paper filings beat the deadline.
“The initial plans and paperwork for this subdivision were filed with and accepted by the township supervisors just before the new zoning ordinance was passed so, by law, it is ‘grandfathered in,’ which means the zoning ordinance does not apply,” Stahl explained. “As can be seen on these plans, Mr. Cox adhered to the land use ordinance in place at the time of the filing, and 50 percent has been set aside as open space.”
Majestic Acres, a 14.35-acre, nine-lot development, is located along the east side of Burket Road. There was little to critique about the plans, but Stahl did point out some potential problems.
“There are indications on these drawings of at least two sink holes on this property,” the county planner noted. “We’re really not in a position to rule on whether these sink holes could be a problem, but we’ve been told that an engineer has looked at them and determined they are sound. At least, that’s what is noted in these plans.
“In a situation like this, we defer to the engineer. The fact that the sink holes are pointed out on the plans, it’s not a situation where a potential buyer wouldn’t know about it.”
The board agreed to pass along staff comments to the township in order to the move the development along.
Among other business, the planning board:
• discussed progress on the county’s comprehensive plan;
• agreed that Pennsylvania Farm Link should apply for a $40,000 rural business enterprise grant to provide beginner farmers in the area with tools; knowledge and skills needed to create viable agricultural enterprises, and
• acknowledged the state Department of Environmental Protection’s application for $12.9 million in federal grants to fund local scale air monitoring, leaking underground storage tank programs, the hazardous waste management program and the mine safety and health administration program.
