To: Alex Graziani, Township Manager, Jeff Shula, Commissioner of Ward 1, Ed Sullivan, Commissioner of Ward 2, Chuck Konkus, Commissioner of Ward 3, Timothy Gwynn, Commissioner of Ward 4, Larry Harrison, Commissioner of Ward 5, and Representa...
Say No To The MEO!
Residents of Penn Township say NO to the MEO or Mineral Extraction Overlay! Tell the local government to keep heavy industrial activity in industrial zones ONLY and away from our neighborhoods, homes, schools, daycares, and recreational areas.
Why is this important?
The Mineral Extraction Overlay is unlawful; Penn Township should revise the ordinance to limit industrial oil and gas activities to the industrial zones. By using this MEO, Penn Township is converting most of the agricultural zone into an industrial zone. This upends the investment-backed expectations of the people who moved to the agricultural zones, which violates principles of due process. There is no indication that Penn Township first evaluated the impacts to water, air, human health, aesthetics and the other values protected by Article I Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution; that constitutes a violation of the constitution because it fails to ensure that citizens will not suffer harm to their constitutionally protected interests and because it constitutes a failure of Penn Township to fulfill its constitutional duty to be a trustee of public natural resources.
By blanketing existing zones with a new use that is out of character of the zoned land beneath it, the MEO is an impermissible application of the township’s zoning power. While municipalities do have the power to use zoning laws to regulate the gas industry, they must apply those laws in a way that are constitutional, and follow established legal precedent on zoning laws. The MEO District produces just such an irrational scheme by allowing a single type of industrial use – natural gas development – in otherwise non-industrial zones.
PLEASE GIVE FULL ADDRESS
By blanketing existing zones with a new use that is out of character of the zoned land beneath it, the MEO is an impermissible application of the township’s zoning power. While municipalities do have the power to use zoning laws to regulate the gas industry, they must apply those laws in a way that are constitutional, and follow established legal precedent on zoning laws. The MEO District produces just such an irrational scheme by allowing a single type of industrial use – natural gas development – in otherwise non-industrial zones.
PLEASE GIVE FULL ADDRESS