Ligonier Township officials Tuesday failed to approve Waterford Volunteer Fire Department’s request to have its 26-acre property rezoned from an agricultural to a commercial designation so it could expand its fire hall and also host the popular Ligonier Country Market.
The rejection came by default — it never made it to a formal vote.
Supervisor Wade Stoner called for more time to study the matter and consider alternatives.
Supervisor Dan Resnic called for a vote to approve the rezoning request.
But in order for a formal vote to be taken, another supervisor had to “second” the motion, and neither Stoner, Resnic nor Supervisor Stephanie Verna did so.
Although there are five township supervisors, only those three were allowed to vote on the matter Tuesday.
Supervisors John Beaufort and Paul Knupp were not permitted to vote on rezoning Waterford Fire Department’s property because the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission had determined that each had a conflict of interest, according to Daniel Hudock, township solicitor. Beaufort’s brother is chief of the Waterford department, and Knupp is involved with the department.
Hudock said the board could reconsider the rezoning request at another meeting.
Robert Derk, fire company president, was not available for a comment after the meeting.
Kelly Svesnik, market director of the Ligonier Country Market, said after the meeting that the popular market with its variety of vendors has other venue options, but she declined to specify what those might be.
The Saturday market was to open for the season May 16 at the fire department property just off Route 271 in the village of Waterford, but the supervisors’ decision before some 65 people put that in jeopardy at that site.
The Country Market was looking for a new home because it lost its lease to use a 9-acre parcel across Mill Creek from Ligonier Borough. The Country Market and the Loyalhanna Watershed Association, which had rented the site to the market for decades, could not reach an agreement on a new lease.
Derk said during an hourlong zoning hearing that the fire department had discussed in October the need for a new fire hall but was hamstrung by an agricultural zoning classification that would allow it to expand by only 25% of its existing building, which was constructed in the late 1930s. The decision was made to apply for the zoning request to free the department of the restrictions on the size of a new fire hall, Derk said.
While the fire department’s desire for the zoning change has been linked to the Ligonier Country Market’s need to find a new home, Derk said that was not the the motivation for the rezoning request. The agricultural designation for the fire department property was a misclassification by the township when it created a zoning map in 1959 because it has not been used as a farm, Derk said.
The agricultural classification does not permit retail sales, township officials said.
Several speakers complained that the commercial zoning designation would change the nature of the small village north of Ligonier.
Derk said he is not in a hurry to have the land rezoned.
Knupp suggested the township planning commission could consider rewording the ordinance so that fire departments and public safety organizations are not limited by the agricultural designation.