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Politics & Government

Crematory Variance Postponed, Parking/Buffer Variance Granted

Zoning Hearing Board grants approval for parking and buffer at 3287 Washington Road.

At the request of Audia Group Investments, LLC, the hearing for a special exemption on a "use not provided for" for a funeral home with crematory at 3287 Washington Road was postponed. Since the postponement was announced on the Peters Township website only a few hours before the scheduled meeting, many residents again turned out to voice concerns on the at the vacant site.

The Zoning Hearing Board did, however, grant a variance by a 2-1 vote on the required number of parking spaces and a six-foot buffer area encroachment for the site. The variance allows for the number of parking spaces to be defined by building usage rather than square footage.

Currently, the two-story, 26,000-square-foot building has 40 spaces. Using the square footage calculation would require the building have 117 spaces, which is impossible due to the size of the building, the size of the lot and the shape of the lot. Planning Director Ed Zuk called the parking situation a "total hardship for any business on that site."

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By granting the variance, the site can follow the standard parking calculation for any funeral home, which is one space for every three seats in the viewing area. Petitioner plans to have a funeral home with two viewing rooms with a total of 130 seats. This will require 44 spaces on the 1.69-acre site. The submitted site plan has 63 spaces, which is above and beyond the requirement. 

Belusko is proposing to use only 10,190 square feet of the facility: 7,500 square feet for general funeral home use and 2,690 for storage and garages. The remaining 16,000 square feet would be either not used or used for storage. Residents expressed concerns over whether having 16,000 square feet of unused space is the best use of the prime site. Calling the situation trying to "fit a square peg into a round hole," several residents stated that a funeral home simply does not belong on this property. The property has been vacant for approximately five years with only seasonal use as a Halloween costume store.

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The approved variance also allows for encroachment into the required setback from Route 19. This would entail having a few parking spaces in the required buffer zone. Township officials stated that this encroachment would not negatively impact surrounding properties.

The variance was approved for the site being used only as a funeral home and not as a crematory. A representative for Belusko said that if a crematory is added, it would not affect the required number of parking spaces or the proposed site plan. If a crematory is permitted, space is already allocated in the site plan to hold the unit. If operation of a crematory is ultimately denied, the space will be used as storage. 

A public hearing on the proposed crematory is scheduled for Monday, March  21 at 7:30 p.m. Catch up from the last meeting .

In other ZHB news:

VFW Post 764 was granted a variance to build a nine foot, four-inch monument-style sign at its location at 460 Valley Brook Road. Current zoning allows for signs to be no higher than six feet. A creek bed in front of the building creates a unique physical hardship that requires the sign be placed farther back from the road than would be ideal.

The VFW originally proposed a 12-foot pole sign, but was not given approval. The newer, smaller sign will be more in line with existing signs in the area and also will be more aesthetically pleasing. The VFW building contains office space, a social club, restaurant and bar.

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