ARC Manor to Appeal Zoning Decision to Court
It was standing room only when nearly 50 people attempted to crowd into the Ford City Borough office last night to hear the verdict by the Zoning Hearing Board on ARC Manor.
by David Croyle
The Ford City Zoning Hearing Board met last night to determine whether Borough Codes Office Fred Dzugan was correct in not approving permits that would have allowed ARC Manor to move into Ford City.
The treatment center is in the process of purchasing the former Heritage Technology Park building from F&M Bank. They intended to more their current facility from Rayburn Township to Ford City.
The building originally housed part of the PPG Industries operation prior to being acquired by the Greater Ford City Community Development Corporation and leased to Caracal manufacturing. Both the CDC and Caracal went into bankruptcy and the building was repossessed by F&M Bank.
The snag came when Dzugan received a written request last year could not match up ARC Manor’s business with the uses allowed in the current Industrial designation of the property. The property is situated near several manufacturing plants including KPM, OEM Shades, and Nature’s Blend that are classified industrial.
A zoning hearing was held on January 5, 2012, but the zoning board opted to deliberate until last night when they voted 2-0 to stand by Dzugan’s decision and not grant ARC Manor’s request.
Ford City Zoning Hearing Board Member James Milligan explains his reasons for affirming his codes officer and denying ARC Manor’s request last night.
Board Member James Milligan gave an overview of the conclusion that led him to cast his vote.
“A professional or general office as defined does not permit overnight treatment; (ARC Manor’s) overnight treatment is consistent with that of a hospital and not a professional office and therefore is not zoned for R2 in the ordinance; the selection of R2 for hospitals is supported by the fact that residential zone is established to provide for the safety of its inhabitants – while recognizing that an industrial zone represents a higher level of risks for buildings with overnight residents. So based on all of this, my position is to affirm the finding of the zoning officer.”
ARC Manor Legal Counsel Chase McClister said his client will now file an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas.
“We will file a notice of appeal. The Zoning Hearing Board would send what is known as the ‘record’ to the Court. That would consist of the transcript and any documents that were made a part of the record. They will send that to the judge and he will decide whether he wants to review it based simply on the record that was sent up to him, or whether he wants to hold any additional hearings at the court house.”
McClister hopes that an appeal before the judge will come quickly because of the investment to be made in the project.
“We will do our best to get it speedily through the court system as we can, but of course that is not up to us. There are a lot of interested parties involved here. There are architects that are on hold – basically in limbo – the bank is involved. There is money sitting in an account waiting to be used toward construction and remodeling. So there are a lot of irons in the fire. The sooner we can move this through, obviously the better it will be for everybody.”
The question is whether the business of ARC Manor fits into the definition of a professional office in the current zoning ordinance. If the court were to rule in favor of ARC Manor, it could strike down the entire zoning ordinance making it invalid and resulting in numerous problems for Ford City Borough.
“The court has wide latitude to review the ordinance for constitutionality. Vagueness is one of the arguments you can make that could render the ordinance unconstitutional. If the court feels that the ordinance is terribly vague or so restrictive that it actually excludes certain uses from the community altogether, the court has the authority to strike down all or part of the zoning ordinance.”
Dzugan said a draft of a new set of zoning ordinances was started a year ago, but has not been completed for formal adoption. He hopes the new council will use this issue to push for final ratification sometime this year.
No one would speculate on the cost of legal fees to the Borough to defend Ford City’s position in the appeal in the Armstrong County Court of Common Pleas.
Ford City Borough, Local News, Rayburn Township | David Croyle January 27, 2012 | 
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