Marshall weighs zoning option along Route 910

When it comes to municipal zoning, terms like “overlay district” may seem to be more than a bit esoteric.

In general, the phrase refers to superimposing an additional set of regulations over an existing zoning district, so as not to change the overall character.

As part of Marshall’s efforts to update the township’s zoning ordinance, along with its subdivision and land development ordinance, an overlay district is under consideration for a stretch of Route 910.

The new designation would extend about one-third of a mile between Mingo Road and Davidford Drive, and would affect 20-plus properties.

“That would allow for some opportunities for limited development on those parcels while still keeping the base zoning single-family,” township manager Julie Bastianini said.

Land situated east of Davidford to the Pine Township line is to remain the same.

During public meeting on Aug. 20, the steering committee for the ordinance update provided information about the option for an overlay district. Some residents who live near the affected area, especially in the Highpoint neighborhood north of Route 910 and homes to the south accessed from Davidford, expressed concerns about a transition to commercial use on affected parcels.

A goal of the zoning proposal is to improve safety by reducing the number of vehicular access points onto Route 910, a heavily traveled road connecting an Interstate 79 interchange with points east. For example, driveways would be consolidated to serve multiple commercial entities within a property.

“The purpose of the overlay district would be to have better access management to those parcels, which would be a benefit to all of the traveling public on Route 910,” Bastianini said. “The purpose also is so development wouldn’t occur piecemeal. One of the components of the overlay is that it would require a 5-acre minimum lot size, as currently proposed.”

Meeting such a requirement, she said, likely would involve parcel assemblage, the process of combining smaller properties into one larger parcel.

The western edge of the potential overlay district is less than a half a mile from I-79’s Wexford interchange, most of which is in neighboring Franklin Park. PennDOT plans to reconfigure the interchange so as to alleviate congestion-related problems such as excessive intersection delays, off-ramp queuing, vehicular spillback onto the highway and unreliable projected travel times.

According to the department, 290 accidents occurred at the interchange between 2017 and 2019, with “a majority of crashes likely being a direct result of congestion.”

Construction is anticipated to begin next year, and PennDOT’s schedule calls for completion in 2026 or 2027.

“The entire interchange will function at one intersection, on the western side of the bridge,” Bastianini said, with vehicles exiting from the south and entering toward the north proceeding on “flyover” ramps crossing the main highway.