Sunday, November 21, 2010
THE DALLAS POST
PAGE 5
HARVEYS LAKE BOROUGH
Council redefines boat house, avoids fracking
By EILEEN GODIN
Dallas Post Correspondent
o. Harveys Lake Borough
Council unanimously approved a
redefined Boat House Ordi-
nance, was approached with an
antifracking ordinance and
awarded a garbage and recycling
bid at its regular monthly meet-
ing Tuesday night.
Council diligently worked
with the borough’s planning and
zoning boards and the public to
redesign the controversial Boat
House Ordinance.
In May 2009, the ordinance
was adopted along with a new
zoning manual. At that time, the
term boat house was simply de-
fined as a “structure constructed
completely over a body of water,
designed and used exclusively to
shelter water craft or marine-re-
lated equipment.”
. The definition was designed
INTERESTED?
The Harveys Lake Environmental
Advisory Council has an opening
for a resident of Harveys Lake
Borough.
EAC consists of seven council
members who advise the Harveys
Lake Borough council on all envi-
ronmental issues that encompass
Harveys Lake Borough.
Interested residents should con-
tact EAC secretary Denise Sult at
639-1042 for more information.
to prohibited people from living
over the water but also eliminat-
ed amenities such as bathrooms
and kitchens. Many lakeside
property owners have voiced
their displeasure with the ordi-
nance and worked with the coun-
cil, the zoning and planning
commissions to redefine the ter-
minology and other aspects of
the ordinance. *
. The new ordinance defines a
boat house as “a structure which
has direct access to a body of
navigable water and is used only
for the storage of vessels and as-
sociated equipment.” But sew-
age disposal and water supply
can be provided in the S-1 lake-
side district. Boat houses with
living quarters will be allowed,
but only “one dwelling unit shall
be permitted upon a lot within
the S-1 district.”
Other changes include a
clause stating that any develop-
ment of properties within the S-1
district which extend into the
water will require approval of the
Water Encroachment Permit un-
der the Pennsylvania Depart-
ment of Environmental Protec-
tion, plus a soil erosion study
and approval by the Luzerne
Country Conservation District.
Borough attorney Charles
McCormick said the height of
the boat house has been changed
to 12 feet above the high water
The new ordinance defines a boat house as "a structure which
has direct access to a body of navigable water and is used only
for the storage of vessels and associated equipment.” But sew-
age disposal and water supply can be provided in the S-1 lakeside
district. Boat houses with living quarters will be allowed, but only
“one dwelling unit shall be permitted upon a lot within the S-1
district.”
mark.
While many residents were
happy with the boat house
changes, others left disgruntled
due to council’s lack of action to
arrange for a public hearing to
address an anti-fracking propos-
al.
The Community Environmen-
tal Legal Defense Fund, of Sum-
mit Hill, prepared the Harveys
Lake Community Water Rights
and Local Self Government Ordi-
nance and had copies available
for everyone.
LEHMAN TOWNSHIP
Both sides of gas drilling meet head-on
By CAMILLE FIOTI
Dallas Post Correspondent
@... from both sides of
the gas drilling issue packed the
board of supervisors meeting
Monday.
Last month, the board denied a
request from the Gas Drilling
Awareness Coalition, a local
grassroots organization opposed
to drilling in the township and
surrounding communities, to ad-
vertise an ordinance it had draft-
ed to ban any corporation from
drilling in the township or ex-
tracting water for drilling in the
township.
Supervisor Dave Sutton said
the proposal, dubbed “Lehman
“I think it's healthy to have an open discussion. I'm
not against drilling but I'm for a moratorium and
getting the rules and regulations in place.”
Jack Hanish
Lehman Township resident
Community Water Rights and
Local Self-Government Ordi-
nance,” contains provisions in di-
rect violation with the municipal
planning code and would be chal-
lenged in the courts if adopted.
Many residents asked the
board why they weren't allowed
to discuss the gas drilling issue
for longer periods of time.
Supervisor Ray Iwanoski
pointed out that more than seven
and a half hours had been devot-
ed to discussing the issue at the
last several meetings, including
an hour and a half at Monday’s
meeting.
“I think it’s healthy to have an
open discussion,” said resident
Jack Hanish. “I'm not against
drilling but I'm for a moratorium
and getting the rules and regula-
tions in place.”
Hanish said he has read the
Wyoming Co. Chamber launches annual shopping contest
The Wyoming County Cham-
ber of Commerce is launching
its fourth annual “I Shopped Lo-
cal This Holiday Season” con-
test.
Retail purchases made in
Wyoming County from Novem-
ber 26 through December 24
during the 2010 holiday season
rials,
will qualify shoppers for entry
to win a $500 grand prize. Qual-
ifying purchases include every-
thing from meals in restaurants,
gift certificates, furniture, cloth-
ing and appliances to shoes,
food, home improvement mate-
cars, vehicle upgrades,
jewelry and more.
é
Non- Medical & Medical Home Care
Plus, purchases made at
Wyoming County Chamber
member businesses will be
awarded a double entry so Look
for the “Buy it Here, Keep it
Here” logo on retail store doors.
For more information, con-
tact Maureen Dispenza at the
Chamber office at 836-7755.
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FED EVEY AR [TE]
proposed ordinance and admit-
ted it is “far from perfect” but
suggested it could be modified to
suit the needs of the township.
Resident Tony Rutchauskas
told the board he has witnessed
numerous trucks from the gas
companies in the area taking dif-
ferent routes other than the roads
that are on the approved traffic
plan. Sutton told Rutchauskas
and the other residents to report
any violations in the traffic plan
as soon as they witness them.
“If you see something going
on, let us know and we’ll nip it in
the bud,” Supervisor Doug Ide
"said. He said residents can call
him at (570) 899-1060 if there is
no answer at the township build-
ing.
In other matters,
e The board passed the first
reading of the 2011 budget. There
‘will be no tax increases in the
$2,122,379 spending plan.
The board plans to adopt the
budget Dec. 20.
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The proposal states “water is
essential for the life, prosperity
and sustainability and health of
the lake community and damage
to the natural water sources im-
poses a great tangible loss to the
people, natural communities and
ecosystem of Harveys Lake.”
It prohibits any corporation to
extract natural gas within the
borough but also states it is un-
lawful to use water from any
source within the borough for
extraction of natural gas. It also
holds ‘ corporations involved in
Issue
neighboring municipalities re-
sponsible for pollution caused to
water sources and the environ-
ment within the borough.
In a standing room crowd,
many residents calmly ex-
pressed their desire to have
council consider this proposal
and asked for a public meeting to
discuss it.
“The protective association is
for this,” said John Halbing, pres-
ident of the Harveys Lake Pro-
tective Association. “The lake
should be protected.”
Resident Neil Turner asked,
“What can we do? Contact our
state and local legislature, con-
trol it through local zoning and
with local rights and self govern-
ment. Or do nothing and accept
the consequences?”
While Rich and Peggy Cronin
thought council would have set a
time and date for a public hear-
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