Board to approve land development changes
The Union Township Board of Supervisors agreed on July 18 to proceed with updating its SALDO (subdivision and land development) ordinance.
A public hearing will be held at the board’s Aug. 15 meeting.
One SALDO change will be amending the definition of lot coverage to include impervious surfaces.
“In other municipalities, there has been an effort to cover entire lots with a porous surface,” said board Chairman Donald E. Basile, adding, “but this limits, even with a porous material.”
Bruce Heilman, director of Land Planning at Systems Design Engineering, said the amendment “doesn’t change the intensity of development.”
Heilman and Supervisor Nelson L. Ott Jr., said lot owners could still cover their entire property in landscaping stone.
Ott opposed the motion to amend lot coverage and impervious surfaces.
” There are 1,700 homes in Union Township and that has never been an issue here; I think it’s a waste of money and time,” said Ott.
The board is also scheduled to approve an ordinance that will control the installation and use of mini cell towers.
The “wireless data explosion” has resulted in the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) permitting 40-foot-high mini cell towers in the public right of way, such as on telephone poles.
“People now want ‘ four bars’ to utilize smart phones, not just to make a call,” said Basile, “and we’re trying to be proactive instead of reactive.”
Mini cell towers fill in “dead spots” between monopole wireless signals.
Basile said the township’s current cell tower ordinance only addresses monopoles.
Monopoles are 150 to 200 feet high, deliver wireless signals within a fivemile radius, and allow “colocation” by several com- munication companies.
Mini cell tower signals extend for about one block.
Township Solicitor Frederick K. Hatt said communication companies must colocate unless there is no other way to provide the required coverage.
The township’s mini cell tower ordinance will prohibit the erection of towers on residents’ front yards due to underground utilities.
Basile said the towers must be installed where they will do the least damage.
Another SALDO update will be that all future minor subdivisions and annexations will be posted and neighbors notified.
The board approved to purchase digital night-vision cameras and alarm systems for the municipal building at 1445 E. Main Street and for the municipal garages on Center Road, at a cost of $4,150.
“By upgrading, it gives people another blanket of security,” said Supervisor Nelson L. Ott, Jr.
Basile said the new, four megapixel cameras will replace the current analog cameras and will provide 40 times the power.