Published: June 03, 2009 11:54 pm      

Zoning options eyed for Route 31 growth

BAKERSVILLE — Zoning regulations and traffic restrictions are among the keys to preserving a key Somerset County corridor that is bracing for rapid development, a new study says.

Using multicolored stickers, residents on Wednesday evening helped choose the top priorities for a plan that aims to protect the Route 31 west corridor from potentially uncontrolled commercial expansion in Jefferson and Somerset townships.

The plan will be finalized by the end of this month, said Brad Zearfoss, Somerset County Planning Commission director.

“There’s been a lot of good input,” Zearfoss said as residents pored over exhibits at Bakersville Volunteer Fire Department’s hall.

For about a year, officials, planners and citizens have been considering the future of Route 31 in light of planned development in the area, including expansions at Hidden Valley and Seven Springs ski resorts.

Their concern was illustrated effectively by two pictures displayed at Wednesday’s meeting. A current photo showed a rural landscape in which the predominant features were a white farmhouse, barn and silo.

Nearby, planners had altered the same scene to show what can happen when development is uncontrolled: The farm had been engulfed by a pharmacy, a self-serve car wash and signs of all shapes and sizes.

After looking at the two pictures, the choice was clear for Page Wetterberg.

“I think it’s pretty definitive that some control is needed,” the Middlecreek Township resident said.

Experts at Pittsburgh-based Mackin Engineering Co. seem to agree. After months of meetings, they have developed numerous recommendations that could help preserve the rural feel of the corridor even as development progresses:

n That includes zoning, a concept that is highly unpopular in this area.

But Christy Burnside DeMuth, a Mackin senior planner, said “corridor zoning” – regulating land use within a certain distance of Route 31 – may be more realistic.

Corridor zoning could be headed by the county. If either township tackled zoning, officials would face the formidable task of drawing up regulations for their entire municipality, DeMuth said.

“We’re not recommending that right now,” she said.

n Given that some estimates have projected drastic traffic increases in the corridor, the study also offers suggestions to keep cars flowing smoothly and safely.

That includes examining safety at intersections throughout the corridor; enlisting police and PennDOT to address speed complaints in Bakersville; and possibly adding turn lanes in key spots.

DeMuth also said there are existing businesss that must better control the flow of traffic into and out of their properties.

n Officials also looked at environmental concerns, including worries that Laurel Hill Creek is overtaxed by water demands.

One solution could be extension of the county’s new Quemahoning Pipeline to the Route 31 west corridor, DeMuth said.

The study has been guided at every step by public input. She pointed out that a majority of those who filled out surveys at two previous meetings favored some sort of zoning regulations to control land use.

She added that meeting participants have overwhelmingly said they “wanted to keep the rural character of their township.”

Wetterberg and her husband Gary, both of whom served on an advisory committee for the study, share that sentiment.

They moved to Pennsylvania about five years ago.

“We moved because we like the environmental conditions that are here,” Gary Wetterberg said. “It’s the mountains, the clean water and the forest.”