(6/29) A whopping 100 to 150 residents of Hamiltonban Township attended a special joint meeting of the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors on June 25 to discuss concerns with the Township’s proposed Draft Zoning Ordinance. The zoning ordinance has been in the works for four years, but the Planning Commission is just in the preliminary stages of making revisions.

The meeting began with a presentation by Rob Thaeler with the Adams County Office of Planning & Development. Thaeler gave a background on the project, and presented three zoning map drafts: the Overlay Districts, Riparian Buffer Areas and the Steep Slopes. He compared and contrasted the Current Zoning Ordinance with the Draft Zoning Ordinance, including the agricultural settings, rural settings, moderate density and lower density residential settings in the Fairfield Borough area, highway commercial settings and the industrial settings.

Many concerns presented centered around changing the zoning districts so development could occur on a flood plain property. However, another major theme addressed by the public came from Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania State Constitution that states, "The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, and historic and aesthetic values of the Environment." Local residents questioned how much thought went into planning the proposed draft. Was everything taken into consideration? Will this affect the species in the area? Why was the Water Quality zoning map not included in the presentation?

The Board stated that the Zoning Map describes what land uses are permitted on the land. They deal with water in sub-division and land development ordinances as well as the Flood Plain Ordinance, which is a separate ordinance entirely.

Another concern raised was the addition of three industrial lots off of Iron Springs Road. The resident who addressed this issue was concerned with the change from Commercial to Industrial usage. They were thrilled that Supervisor Chairman Robert Gordon made the motion not to add the three industrial lots with all members in agreement.

The resident stated, "This will not resolve the continued issues that exist for residents beside already existing commercial businesses, or if the land for sale on 116 is sold for commercial use. Since the building of the Strip Mall and Gas Station is directly beside my property, on what was already wet land … we have experienced issues of water run-off, standing water and continued drainage issues. Along with commercial business there is continued noise, fumes, lighting issues and traffic is an added nuisance."