Rostraver OKs zoning change on Indian Hill Road

The commissioners granted a request to change the property from an agricultural zone to a single family residential zone.

An agricultural area of Rostraver Township will be changed to a residential zone following approval by the township commissioners.

During a board agenda and voting meeting Wednesday, the board agreed to grant a request from Knights Landing/ RWS Development to change property that is currently an A-1 agricultural zone to an R-1 single family residential zone for property off of state Route 201 and Indian Hill Road.

Commissioners Devin De-Rienzo, Gary Beck and Justin Kosanko voted to approve the zoning change. Commissioners Jeffrey Johnson and John Lorenzo were not present at the meeting.

Although the zoning change was ultimately approved, there was some discussion about concerns of preserving farmland in Rostraver Township and new added traffic to Indian Hill Road.

The conditions of Indian Hill Road have been a concern for many years.

“It’s a state road, we have taken many residents’ concerns straight to PennDOT to no avail at this time,” said DeRienzo, vice president of the board. “When I say that we’ve taken residents’ concerns, we’re talking years, we’ve heard many problems with Indian Hill. We’ve wrote letters to PennDOT, we’ve had our engineer involved, we’ve had state reps up there as well.”

Solicitor Joseph Dalfonso added that concerns with Indian Hill Road and traffic issues would be addressed through any land development applications submitted. Dalfonso said there had been no land development applications submitted for any project regarding the zoning change.

DeRienzo said it was up to individual property owners if they wanted to make an effort at preserving their farmland and that the board couldn’t do anything about it.

“There were a couple recommendations that were brought up about preserving farmland that I believe that we will take a look at,” DeRienzo said. “One that I might be interested in myself is that some lot sizes are a little bit bigger in a residential development.”

Overall, DeRienzo said the board can’t have a say in what property owners do with their own farmland and if they choose to sell it to a developer.

“We, as a board, have to follow the recommendations of our planning agency and the rules and regulations of the township, the state of Pennsylvania, along with our comprehensive plan and that’s what I believe we do as a board,” DeRienzo said.

In other business:

In other matters, the commissioners approved the following: • Accepted the resignation of Jack M. French from the Rostraver Township Recreation Commission.

• Appointed Michael Burgoyne as member of the Rostraver Township Recreation Commission with a term that expires on Dec. 31, 2028.

• A payment to Tresco Paving Corp. in the amount of $577,122.48 from the state fund for the Superpave Asphalt Project.