Variance

The Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals Wednesday night denied a variance that would have allowed a new Community Rescue Service ambulance station to be built on Village Mill Road in Maugansville. The board denied the variance on a 3-2 vote after about 50 people filled the Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting room in Hagerstown during a hearing on the proposal. Several Maugansville area residents spoke against the variance request, saying they were worried about ambulance sirens "screaming down the street," how the station would affect the property values of nearby homes and how it would operate amid already tricky traffic conditions.

Bank zoning variance approved The Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals Wednesday approved one of two variances for property at 18233 Maugans Ave., which is adjacent to a planned First National Bank of Greencastle branch, Chairman Robert Veil said Thursday. A request for a variance to reduce the buffer between the lot line and a nearby dwelling from 25 feet to 8.5 feet was denied, Veil said. William Wantz, a Hagerstown attorney representing a neighbor, spoke against the variance, Veil said.

The Washington County Planning Commission on Monday unanimously voted to deny variance requests that would allow a fifth lot on a property on U.S. 40 west of Clear Spring. Thomas and Wendy Cresswell requested variances to allow a panhandle that is designed to be more than double the length allowed by the county to allow stacking of more than two tiers of lots and to have several joined panhandles. Planning commission Chairman Donald Ardinger, who did not vote on the variance request, said prior to the vote that he was not in favor of that many variances to add a lot to a property, even though the applicant altered previously submitted plans.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The Jefferson County Planning Commission granted three variances to a commercial shooting range at the Summit Point Raceway complex on Tuesday. BSR Range plans to upgrade the shooting facility from one traditional firing range to two and add a third, computer-operated range, said Mike Shepp, who presented the plans to the Planning Commission. The range also will have a "shoot house" for special-operations training, Shepp said. The range is used by local and federal law enforcement, as well as the U.S. State Department for training exercises.

The Washington County Association for Retarded Citizens has been granted a variance for a $1 million addition to its Hagerstown activity center, said Matt Davis, a city planner. The addition at 820 Florida Ave. will replace the Chewsville activity center next fall. The Hagerstown Board of Zoning Appeals voted 2-1 last Wednesday to allow the association to build the addition within 100 feet of the front property line, Davis said. Lighting for the building and parking lot must be shielded from neighbors and a buffer area must exist between the property and nearby residences, Davis said.

Despite being denied a variance request Wednesday night as part of a plan to build a new ambulance station on Village Mill Road in Maugansville, the Community Rescue Service can proceed with the project if a house on the property is torn down, according to Washington County's zoning coordinator. The only reason the rescue service needed a variance was because the ambulance station and a house would be on the same property under a plan rejected Wednesday night by the Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals, Kathy Kroboth said.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Hagerstown Board of Zoning Appeals Wednesday approved one of two variance requests by the W House of Hagerstown Foundation Inc. for its new building at 519 N. Locust St. W House received permission to reduce the number of off-street parking spaces at the site from 10 to six in order to create a courtyard. W House Executive Director Christina Trenton told the board the group plans to turn a driveway into three parking spaces. The courtyard would provide a place for W House residents to smoke and it could also be used for other activities as well, Trenton said.

The Antrim Township Board of Supervisors made it clear it is not in favor of a variance that would allow a personal-care facility to be located in an agricultural residential zone. At Tuesday's meeting, Sylvia House, township zoning officer, asked the board of supervisors for direction on how to represent the township during the zoning appeal. Lana Gordon with Caring Hands Personal Care Homes and Nursing Services LLC wants to put a personal-care home at 7465 Angle Road in Chambersburg, Pa. In March, Gordon told the supervisors that she wants to operate the facility at the vacant estate of Donald R. Wishard.

Variance request unanimously denied The Washington County Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday to deny a variance request for the subdivision of a property west of Clear Spring. According to planning documents, Thomas and Wendy Creswell requested the variance at the National Pike site so they could sell a 10-acre lot to finance the completion of a spring water business. The Creswells needed variances for a proposed 2,610-foot main panhandle and the creation of four panhandle-shaped subdivisions to serve lots on the property, documents state.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The Waynesboro Borough Council Monday waived a $200 application fee for the Waynesboro Area Senior High School class of 2005, which is seeking a variance for a sign it is buying for the school. The class, as its parting gift to the school, wants the sign to be installed on the East Second Street side of the school building. The sign is larger than that allowed by the borough's sign ordinance, so the students have to request a variance before the borough's Zoning Hearing Board.

The Antrim Township Board of Supervisors made it clear it is not in favor of a variance that would allow a personal-care facility to be located in an agricultural residential zone. At Tuesday's meeting, Sylvia House, township zoning officer, asked the board of supervisors for direction on how to represent the township during the zoning appeal. Lana Gordon with Caring Hands Personal Care Homes and Nursing Services LLC wants to put a personal-care home at 7465 Angle Road in Chambersburg, Pa. In March, Gordon told the supervisors that she wants to operate the facility at the vacant estate of Donald R. Wishard.

The Leitersburg Volunteer Fire Co. is planning to build a new station. The department hopes to move from its current home at 21431 Leiter St. to a parcel it purchased last year less than a mile away. Milton A. Bloom III, the department's president, said the department has talked for at least 10 years about building a new station because the current one is cramped and outdated. Initially, the plan was to build a new station on the same land on which the current station sits, but that didn't work, he said.

Despite being denied a variance request Wednesday night as part of a plan to build a new ambulance station on Village Mill Road in Maugansville, the Community Rescue Service can proceed with the project if a house on the property is torn down, according to Washington County's zoning coordinator. The only reason the rescue service needed a variance was because the ambulance station and a house would be on the same property under a plan rejected Wednesday night by the Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals, Kathy Kroboth said.

The Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals Wednesday night denied a variance that would have allowed a new Community Rescue Service ambulance station to be built on Village Mill Road in Maugansville. The board denied the variance on a 3-2 vote after about 50 people filled the Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting room in Hagerstown during a hearing on the proposal. Several Maugansville area residents spoke against the variance request, saying they were worried about ambulance sirens "screaming down the street," how the station would affect the property values of nearby homes and how it would operate amid already tricky traffic conditions.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- A country-style saloon's bid to expand in Martinsburg cleared two hurdles Tuesday evening when the city's zoning appeals board unanimously approved a variance to parking requirements and an exception to rules for enlarging a nonconforming structure. The requests by George O'Connell, owner of the Dirty Dawg Saloon at 1017 S. Queen St., were backed by several people attending the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting, including Ward 2 Councilman Richard Yauger.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A lawsuit that challenged the Berkeley County Planning Commission's vote to allow storage facilities for explosives and blasting agents to be built on North Mountain has been dismissed by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gina M. Groh. Groh signed an order Nov. 23 dismissing the suit against the planning commission after the court was notified that Geological Technologies Inc. (GTI) withdrew its request for a variance that would have allowed the company to proceed with the project off Tuscarora Pike.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - The Berkeley County Planning Commission on Monday reversed a decision it made in June and approved a company's request to build a private driveway on North Mountain's steep slopes to serve storage facilities for explosives, blasting agents and other inventory. The request for a variance or exception to development rules for disturbance of slopes 30 percent or greater by Geological Technologies Inc. (GTI) of Falling Waters, W.Va., was approved by a 5-3 vote.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Developers of a planned 27-acre resort near Harpers Ferry will have to get permission to bypass a requirement for a 500-foot buffer along the Potomac River for their project to proceed, a county planning office spokeswoman said Tuesday. A neighborhood compatibility hearing was scheduled for the Rattling Springs Resort today at 10 a.m., but it was canceled because two variances, including one allowing the developers to bypass the buffer requirement, are needed before the hearing is held, said Shannon Hayden, an administrative staff spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Department of Planning, Zoning and Engineering.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Berkeley County Planning Commission in a 4-3 vote narrowly denied a company's request to build a private driveway on the steep slopes of North Mountain to serve storage facilities for explosives, blasting agents and other inventory. The outcome against Geological Technologies Inc. (GTI) of Falling Waters, W.Va., prompted a threatening outburst by one man in the audience at the County Commission chambers who said "we'll see you boys later," before leaving the room.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- The Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission's proposal to build a new 98-bed shelter to house more homeless men has prompted questions about safety conditions at the existing facility and whether it complies with state fire code. In a hearing Tuesday night held by the city's Board of Zoning Appeals about the shelter expansion project, Danny Custer, an administrator for the rescue mission at 602 W. King St., told board members that the facility regularly was inspected and had passed inspections.