The South Fayette commissioners will hold a public hearing next month on a proposed revision to the township’s oil and gas drilling ordinance that would restrict drilling sites to areas that are zoned for industrial use.
The change would address only surface issues and would not affect the subsurface operations or rights, township solicitor Joe Kamin said. “This is just basically about where you can put a drill site,” he said.
The township began considering revising its ordinance at Mr. Kamin’s recommendation. He cited the 2013 ruling by the state Supreme Court that said drilling is an industrial use. “In terms of classifying the use, drilling should only be permitted in industrial areas,” Mr. Kamin said.
The township planning commission in May denied recommendation of the proposed revision.
“They had a public hearing and recommended denial based on concerns that the ordinance was exclusionary,” Mr. Kamin said.
The commissioners, however, decided to hold a public hearing on the revision at 7:30 p.m. July 8, the date of their next voting meeting. That means the board could decide on the proposed ordinance as early as that evening. The June 10 vote to hold the hearing was approved 3-1, with Commissioner Jessica Cardillo-Wagenhoffer opposed. Commissioner Deron Gabriel was not present.
Ms. Cardillo-Wagenhoffer called the proposed ordinance a de facto ban and said it would eliminate drilling opportunities. If the ordinance is approved, she said, “There is nowhere in the township where [a drill site] can even happen based on my own [Geographic Information System] calculations.” Mr. Kamin did not agree.
Commissioner Lisa Malosh said at the meeting, “Let’s start the process to engage the public. It can always go back to the planning commission with changes.”
The board does not need the planning commission’s approval to move forward, but if it made changes to the proposed ordinance, the proposal would have to be sent to the planning commission again.
Commissioner Joe Horowitz said, “We need the public debate rather than discuss this amongst ourselves.”
Commissioner Raymond Pitetti said later that he voted for a public hearing because all residents should be able to ask about the ordinance specifically, as well as drilling in general. “While there may only be a few who are interested in drilling on their property, drilling in the township would affect everyone. We should not hesitate to talk about this in a public forum,” he said.
Amy Philips-Haller, freelance writer: suburbanliving@postgazette.com.
First Published: June 19, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
