Beaver planning commission working on “overlay district” for the borough

BEAVER – The Beaver Planning Commission is working on creating a draft change to the borough zoning ordinance, that would allow for an “overlay district.”

An overlay district applies an additional layer of standards to all areas within a defined overlay boundary.

Planning Commission Chairwoman Carey McDougall said, if implemented, this overlay district would allow for development inside larger plots or lots of land, which she said could help bring in younger residents and families who don’t want to take care of a bigger lot.

The commission partnered with Pittsburgh-based Environmental Planning & Design to help work on the draft document.

Commission member Dan Martone said if implemented, requests via the overlay district would be done through a conditional use, not permitted use.

This would mean developers/residents would have to first submit a conceptual plan to the planning commission for review, and if the property is in the historic district, it would have to be reviewed by the Historical and Architecture Review Board (HARB).

Following that, the requests would go to the council for approval or denial.

Martone said the planning commission is not ready to publicly showcase the map of where the potential overlay district will be, but said it is largely over the center part of town.

Council President Alexander Andres said the planning commission will work on finalizing the district map and present a draft written ordinance for council to vote to advertise.

Once that happens, a public hearing will be scheduled before council votes on whether to adopt the ordinance.

Andres asking for guidance for potential community center

Andres said he is asking for any members of the Beaver community, who has experience in consulting and project management, if they would like to volunteer to help the borough plan to create a potential community center, rather than outsourcing the roles.

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Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver Planning Commission working on overlay district for the borough