Kiski Township proposes zoning change to allow for business district along Route 56

The Kiski Township Planning Commission and the township supervisors will hold hearings in the next two weeks to amend zoning ordinances to create a business district along Route 56.

The township is proposing to change the zoning classification of about 175 properties lining Route 56.

Most are zoned agricultural or agricultural/residential. They would change to a new business district classification.

The new business zoning designation would not change residents’ tax status or rates in the business zone, Supervisor Chuck Rodnicki said.

Rodnicki also is a member of the township’s planning commission, which developed the proposed change.

More than half of the roughly 9 miles of Route 56 through the township are long stretches of undeveloped country roadsides. Small clusters of neat homes fronted by colorful beds of zinnias and coreopsis are, to a lesser extent, broken up by abandoned buildings and small businesses.

It’s 17 miles of township road to nowhere, one resident remarked, because Route 56 leaves populated areas such as Apollo and leads to more heavily rural areas in Indiana County.

The Kiski Township supervisors would like to change that.

“We hope to bring in some new businesses and residences to the township,” Rodnicki said.

While zoning can open up development opportunities, it can also control expansion, he stressed.

“We don’t want to be a Pittsburgh or a Derry Township,” he said.

At Schultz’s Sportsmen’s Stop, a 55-year-old store along Route 56 that has sold guns and hunting gear to generations of residents, change is on the minds of many.

Owner Debbie Schultz, a Kiski Township native and Parks Township resident, supports growth in the township “if it’s done right and if zoning ordinances protecting residents’ rights and property values are enforced.

“We all need to take time to get the information on the business district zoning. I need to learn more to know if it benefits residents or not.”

The township’s zoning ordinance needed a major update, since it went into effect 34 years ago, Rodnicki said. The planning commission has been working on the changes for about a decade.

The proposed businesses district would feature low- to moderate-impact businesses in terms of noise and traffic, Rodnicki said.

There will be no high-impact industrial businesses. Those are limited to the industrial zones, none of which are along Route 56, he said.

“The new business district will be controlled,” Rodnicki said. “We’re not going to let a machine shop go into a nice area.”

Noisy or disruptive moderate-impact businesses, such as animal clinics and shelters or auto and auto repair services shops, would need to go before the township’s planning commission and then supervisors for a conditional use approval, Rodnicki said.

“There are a lot of protections for property owners,” he said. “There’s not going to be a car repair shop in a residential area.”

Businesses permitted in the business district would include adult day cares, art and paper craft shops, art galleries, bakeries, banks, bicycle sales, boat and marine sales, catering and markets, he said.

Other protections for residents include controlling signage for a neighbor who can’t just pluck down a bright, digital sign, he said.

Bringing in more stores would be helpful to residents, especially elderly ones, said Bill Baum, who has lived in a house along Route 56 with his wife, Cindy, for 10 years.

“We need a Walmart or some kind of store like that,” he said. “With Kmart in Allegheny Township closed, we have nothing.”

The couple have to travel to Harrison, Indiana or Delmont to shop at larger stores.

Although attracting a large store to the immediate area could be difficult, Baum said, a variety of more stores nearby would be helpful.

More shopping opportunities would be valuable to elderly residents who might not drive long distances or drive at all, the couple said.

Read the ordinance

A copy of the proposed zoning ordinance is available for the public to view from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at the township municipal building, 1222A Old State Road.

The hearings are set for Monday, Aug. 22, for the planning commission and Monday, Aug. 29, for the township supervisors. Both meetings start at 7 p.m. at the Kiski Township Volunteer Fire Department, 1037 Route 56.