Zoning

By a unanimous decision Wednesday, the five-member Hagerstown Board of Zoning Appeals granted a special exception for a longstanding funeral home to operate in the city's residential zoning district. Minnich Funeral Home has been at its current location since 1958, but had been considered a nonconforming use under the current zoning ordinance passed after the funeral home was established. The funeral home, which had an on-site crematory installed in 1989, will soon expand to include a second crematory inside a 20-feet by 54-feet addition to its existing building at 415 E. Wilson Blvd., owner Scott Minnich Sr. said.

There was no comment Tuesday during a public hearing before the Hagerstown City Council about the redesignation and expansion of enterprise zones in and around the city. The city and Washington County are working jointly to submit an application to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development by April 15 to renew the zones, which provide businesses with property- and income-tax credits for construction and rehabilitation projects, as well as job creation. The application is for a 10-year period, lasting through 2022.

A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon to consider a joint proposal by Washington County and the city of Hagerstown for the redesignation and expansion of enterprise zones in the city and county. The hearing will take place at 4 p.m. in the City Hall council chamber at 1 E. Franklin St. Enterprise zones in and around the city promote business and offer tax breaks for new construction and rehabilitation projects, the city's Economic Development Manager Jill Estavillo said at a council work session earlier this month.

County OKs zoning change for potential Boonsboro land If Boonsboro annexes a roughly 15-acre parcel at its northern border, the town has Washington County's permission to immediately change the zoning to “town residential,” the Board of County Commissioners decided Tuesday. Without their “express approval,” the town would have had to wait five years before making significant changes to the parcel's zoning. The land is in the county's agricultural zoning district.

Working in conjunction with Washington County, Hagerstown officials want to renew and expand enterprise zones in and around the city to promote business and offer tax breaks for new construction and rehabilitation projects. The zones also provide eligibility for income tax credits for job creation in several types of businesses, including manufacturing, warehouses, research and development, corporate or regional offices and service industries. Mercantile and retail businesses also are included, but only in the city center.

Living by the “practice makes perfect” theory, the Williamsport Wildcats spent extra time working shooting since their last game on Feb. 17. It was a game where the Wildcats scored only 35 points, including senior Alex Aleshire's noticeable “0” in the scorebook. That wasn't happening on Friday night in the first round of the Maryland Class 2A West Region as Aleshire and his teammates scorched Catoctin 73-47. Aleshire came out full throttle and coach Scott Mowbray couldn't have been happier with the execution of the offense.

A Greyhound bus stop on Dual Highway near Hagerstown ceased operations last week after a Washington County zoning board in January denied a special exception allowing the operation, a bus company official said Thursday. The bus stop was operated by Hub City Shippers, which had served as the ticket agent since December 2010. Hub City Shippers moved from a previous location on Dual Highway to Foxshire Plaza at 1423 Dual Highway, just outside of Hagerstown, in November 2011. “We're very interested in the possibility of operating in the area, but from what we've been told, there's no zoning currently where we're at,” Greyhound spokesman Timothy Stokes said.

The Washington Township (Pa.) Supervisors rezoned land Wednesday to clear the way for Crosswalk Church to move to Midvale Road. The supervisors rezoned the former Tri Fab Inc. property, which is 6.61 acres, from industrial to agricultural. Churches are permitted uses in agricultural zones, but not industrial ones. The building will give the church 35,000 square feet, compared to the 14,000 square feet it has in the Gold's Gym complex at 118 Walnut St. “We plan on staying there.

The Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals has denied a special exception that would have enabled a Greyhound bus stop to continue operating at Foxshire Plaza Shopping Center at 1432 Dual Highway outside of Hagerstown. The zoning appeals board decision followed a Jan. 4 public hearing, during which residents living in the Foxshire Plaza area spoke out against the station being allowed to operate at the current location. Nearby residents testified at the public hearing and employees of stores in the plaza, interviewed by The Herald-Mail, described incidents of late-night loitering, littering, theft, drinking in the parking lot, and pubic urination and defecation involving riders using the Greyhound bus stop.

The Hagerstown City Council Tuesday evening unanimously approved the introduction of ordinances that would designate school speed-camera zones and approve a loan to buy larger recycling bins for city residents. The five-member council approved the introduction of an ordinance that establishes citywide school zones, which was first presented by Police Chief Arthur Smith last Tuesday. The school zone ordinance would establish speed limits at more than a dozen locations near Hagerstown schools that could be sites for new speed-monitoring cameras.