CLEARFIELD – On Wednesday a public hearing was held in Lawrence Township for proposed changes and changes to the township’s zoning and subdivision and land development ordinances.
The township supervisors are looking to amend its zoning ordinance to include definitions for the terms ‘recycling yard’, ‘scrap yard’ and ‘salvage yard.’ It is also looking to add gas wells and wind turbines to conditional use in areas zoned rural-agricultural, add gas wells and wind turbines to specific exceptions in areas zoned residential suburban, commercial highway, residential urban, industrial limited, industrial and commercial. The supervisors also want to change section 125-16C (27) for recycling, scrap and salvage yards.
As part of the changes to zoning ordinance, definitions were added for recycling, scrap and salvage yards. According to the township’s proposed definition, a recycling yard is a business that receives material that can be recycled. Those materials will be processed in and marketed within 15 business days.
A scrap yard is defined as a business where various types of metal material are received and resold as the market dictates prices.
A salvage yard is a business where auto, truck or equipment parts are salvaged from vehicles or equipment that is no longer able to perform its intended purpose and resold to consumers as used parts. Left-over material is then sold as scrap within 60 days.
The changes also set up a permit fee. Any one permit is $150, any two permits are $225 and any three permits are $300.
Changes would also require recycling, scrap and salvage yards to adhere to the following requirements:
-All lot sizes must be at lease five acres.
-No storage of any kind will be permitted in the front of side yard setbacks.
-All setbacks shall be increased by 10 feet.
-Processing or storage of hazardous materials are defined by the DEP and EPA and shall not be permitted.
-All recycling, scrap and salvage yards must obtain a license as required under the LT ordinance. A fence must also be placed around the location.
The meeting was advertised in The Progress. No one from the public attended to offer comment on the proposed changes, which must go through a few more processes before they come up for a vote at a future supervisors’ meeting.