Forward Township: Crowd opposes zoning change for mining company

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

The first in-person supervisors’ meeting in Forward Township since the pandemic began attracted a crowd opposed to a request from the Coronado Mining Company.

William Sittig Jr. has been hired as a special consultant to the township in the case, in which Coronado is challenging the township’s zoning ordinance.

“Coronado has filed that the ordinance as it is now is overly restrictive,” Sittig said. “In the industrial district, you are allowed to mine.”

Sittig said Coronado wants to mine about 380 acres, but 209 of those acres are zoned either conservation or single- family residential, neither of which permits mining.

“The township generously provides for coal mining, but the amount Coronado wants to mine far exceeds that,” Sittig said. “I looked at all the homes in the immediate vicinity. There are homes all around the site.”

Sittig said Coronado had requested a hearing with the planning commission last year, but the topic was deemed important enough to wait until meetings could be held in person so members of the public could better participate in the process.

The company, Sittig said, has alleged that lack of a hearing is de facto approval. The township offered a date in June, but the company said it wasn’t ready, but would offer an alternate date by the end of this week.

“We’re going to defend the ordinance,” Sittig said.

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Tuesday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.