Tarentum Council resists proposal to abolish borough's planning commission

A proposal to abolish Tarentum’s planning commission and replace it with a committee of professionals and council members was met with resistance from council members who opposed removing borough residents from the zoning and land use process.

Borough Manager Michael Nestico argued the planning commission can only make recommendations to council and is an unnecessary step that dates back to when the borough did not have paid professionals such as a manager and code enforcement officer.

He noted that the commission should have five members but has only three, and the borough has been unable to find volunteers to fill the two vacant seats.

The commission has no chairperson and has not met in at least two years, Nestico said. Two of the three members have never participated in a meeting because the board has not met since they were appointed.

With the borough rewriting its zoning ordinance with the help of an outside consultant, Nestico said it would make more sense for a planning committee comprising himself, code enforcement Officer Anthony Bruni and two council members to work with the consultant and present its recommendation to the whole council for consideration.

A planning commission “is an extra step in the process in my opinion,” Nestico said.

“In years past, there was a need for volunteer groups like a planning commission to take on these responsibilities. You didn’t have paid professionals, you didn’t have consulting teams and things like that,” he said. “Now because we did hire a consultant, a professional, you have a paid borough manager, paid zoning officer, things like that, it makes more sense to have those individuals in conjunction with two council members make up a planning committee that would ultimately work with the consultant to iron out the details about new zoning.”

Councilman Jim Bonner was the first to express concern when council discussed the issue during its first virtual meeting, which is available for viewing on the borough’s website and on Youtube. The meeting was held virtually because of the covid-19 pandemic.

“If it’s going to take a bunch of meetings with the engineers and your consultants and a couple of council people, having two or three members of the public involved really won’t complicate it,” he said, adding that public input “is critical and important and it doesn’t take any more meetings.”

Councilwoman Carrie Fox said the borough should welcome public input.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to abolish. Our public is very vital to our community. They have a right to be involved,” she said.

Fox said that she and Councilwoman Erika Josefoski were once on the planning commission but resigned on Nestico’s recommendation that it didn’t make sense for council members to be on a board making recommendations back to council.

Nestico noted the borough has a pending zoning matter over a proposed billboard at the Tarentum Bridge.

Nestico said it doesn’t make sense for professionals to work on the zoning ordinance and have to present their proposals to laypeople who don’t have a background in zoning and land use and have no authority over it.

“No matter which setup you have, council makes the ultimate decision,” he said.

Councilman Brian Snyder, who noted the difficulty of getting volunteers to serve on bodies like planning commissions, said he agreed with Nestico.

“It sounds like you’re trying for a more streamlined approach, less people in the way that we need to go through and have to consult with us and consult with other people,” he said. “If you wanted to put together a committee with people that are more knowledgeable than your average resident, I’m on board with you. Everything that you said makes sense to me.

Council President Scott Dadowski said council could talk about the issue more at a later date.