The Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board granted a special exception request Thursday for a proposed cargo airport in the northern part of the county.
The board, however, said that certain conditions must be met, and the attorney representing East Union Township said he plans to appeal.
Gladstone Partners LP, Pittsburgh, applied for the special exception in 2009 after announcing plans to build the airport in 2007. The facility would stretch across 4,500 acres in East Union and Kline townships, Schuylkill County, and Hazle Township, Luzerne County. It would also have 13,000-foot runways.
"As you can imagine, it was a difficult decision for us," said Eric Seitzinger, board chairman. "There was a lot of evidence to go through, including review of expert and personal testimony ..."
Opposing the special request were Service Electric Cablevision, which has a station with 12 satellites within 1.6 miles of the proposed project, and East Union Township, the primary location of the proposed project. In September 2011, Judge John E. Domalakes rejected the township's argument that its own zoning board should decide the case instead of the county.
"... The tougher questions were whether or not the proposed project would have a negative impact on the surrounding community, diminish the value of property, change the character of the neighborhood, interfere with the service already provided, and/or create an unbelievable burden on the local community ..."
Seitzinger said the board felt Gladstone had satisfied the review criteria of the ordinance to justify the special exception. He said Gladstone has shown that the project is well-protected, will not cause substantial injury to property in surrounding neighborhoods, would not disturb Service Electric, is compatible with its surroundings, and off-street parking will not be an issue.
The application was granted provided the following conditions are met:
- A new roadway is built from Interstate 81 to the airport.
- The airport's primary access comes directly from I-81.
- Gladstone appoints a representative with first-hand knowledge of the project to report to the townships and the county until the airport is operational.
- Adequate emergency services at the airport that can operate with or without local emergency personnel.
The board's written decision will be made today and will be available to the public in the county zoning board's office in the Schuylkill County Courthouse. The board did not answer any questions concerning the decision following the hearing, citing clients' rights.
Attorney Frederick Fanelli, representing Gladstone, was unable to attend Thursday's hearing but did issue a statement on behalf of his client.
"After a long and protracted process involving a number of challenges to this development project that delayed efforts initiated by Gladstone, we are deeply gratified by the decision of the Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board in granting the approval for this project," Fanelli said. "It is anticipated that the development could generate millions of dollars of direct investment resulting in benefit to the local and regional economies, including the creation of hundreds of new job opportunities. With zoning approval now in place, we can move forward with efforts to secure tenant interest and complete financing ..."
An appeal can be filed within 30 days of the written decision.
Attorney Donald G. Karpowick, the representative for East Union Township, said an appeal will be filed based on three grounds.
He said the first is the fact that Gladstone did not get a permit from the state Department of Transportation before filing a zoning application as required.
"We think that the law is clear and we think it is grounds for reversal," Karpowick said.
The second grounds for appeal, he said, is the jurisdiction should have been with the East Union Township zoning board, not at the county level.
The third, he said, was Gladstone did not meet the standards of the county ordinance, specifically that the plan did not show parking.
"The law is clear that you can't come in and say we have enough room to provide parking. The plan actually has to show the parking," Karpowick said.