Chairman Randall Wenger convened the November 12, 2003 meeting of the Warwick Township Zoning Hearing Board at 7:00 p.m. Present were Board Members Randall Wenger, Wilmer Burkhart, Dane St. Clair, Scott Goldman, Gary Lefever and alternate Kenneth Kauffman. Also present were Zoning Officer Thomas Zorbaugh, Zoning Hearing Solicitor David Workman, Kimberly S. Hackman, John L. King, and Tim Nancarvis.

MINUTES APPROVAL: On a motion by Lefever, seconded by Burkhart, the Board unanimously approved the minutes of the October 8, 2003 meeting as submitted. St. Clair and Wenger abstained from a decision on the minutes since they were not present at last month’s meeting.

POSTING, PROOF OF PUBLICATION AND NOTICE: The Zoning Officer confirmed the posting, notice and proof of publication of the cases to be heard at this evening's hearings.

HEARING PROCEDURES: For the benefit of those present, the Zoning Hearing Solicitor explained the procedure to be followed for the evening's hearings.

CASE #616, KIMBERLY HACKMAN-SPECIAL EXCEPTION: The Chairman read the zoning notice for the application received from Kimberly Hackman, 826 Pine Hill Road, Lititz, PA 17543. The applicant is seeking a Special Exception to the Warwick Township Zoning Ordinance under Section 204.3.A pertaining to a Home Occupation in an R-1 Residential zone. The applicant would like to teach arts and crafts to children from her home.

Kimberly Hackman was sworn in. She testified that she would like to teach arts and crafts lessons in her home three evenings per week and added that she would also like to teach a Saturday morning class. The lessons would be approximately 1½ to 2 hours long. Hackman testified that she would be the only individual teaching the lessons and stated that she would provide the materials for the lessons.

The Board stated that the Ordinance requires one parking space per patron, and the information submitted with the application indicates that the class size could be up to ten children. The Board expressed the opinion that although the children would be dropped-off at the lessons, there could be ten vehicles waiting at one time to pick-up children. Hackman explained that she was unsure whether or not this section of the Ordinance applied to her since she would not have customers. The Board inquired whether parents would pull in the driveway to pick-up/drop-off their children, or would pick-up/drop-off their children from the street. Hackman stated that both would probably occur. The Board inquired if parents would be able to stay during the lesson. Hackman responded that she does not anticipate any parents staying; however, she would not say no if a parent requested to stay during the lesson. She stated that the longest she anticipates anyone waiting for a child is 5-10 minutes. She explained that the lessons would be targeted to children between the ages of 6 and 12 years of age living in the Lititz area. She added that due to the age span, parents could enroll siblings in the class. The Zoning Officer clarified the location of Hackman’s house for the benefit of the Board. She explained that she would encourage car pooling. Burkhart inquired if the lessons are structured as a course, or if the lessons would be on-going. Hackman stated that a separate lesson would be held each week (i.e., Christmas ornaments, glass etching, decoupage). The Zoning Officer inquired whether or not Hackman would offer anything that would encourage parents to stay the entire evening (i.e., parent night). Hackman responded that she does not intend to have parents stay the entire evening and added that she anticipates that parents would use the lessons as an opportunity to do other things such as Christmas shopping or other errands. The Board indicated that typically, Home Occupation requests require associated vehicles to be parked off of the roadway. Hackman offered to add an additional 16' to the rear of her existing driveway which would add three parking spaces. She noted that she obtained quotes for the driveway extension. The Board indicated that the concern is vehicles backing out into Pine Hill Road.

The Chairman inquired whether anyone present wishes to either become a party to the case or provide any comments.

John King, 743 East Millport Road, inquired if Hackman could connect a horseshoe to the existing driveway to allow motorists to enter and exit the property without backing out into the roadway. Hackman stated that she would be too close to her neighbor’s property if she extends the horseshoe around the back of her home.

The Board inquired whether or not Hackman would have a sign for the business. Hackman responded that she would like a 2 square foot sign in accordance with the Ordinance.

Tim Nancarvis, 172 Windy Hill Drive, suggested that Hackman place an orange traffic cone in the roadway to advise motorists of the additional traffic on the night of the lessons.

The Board inquired whether Hackman could stagger the class to provide for half of the class to arrive 15 minutes apart at both the beginning and end of the lessons. In addition, the class could be limited to 8 children in order to limit the number of vehicles dropping off/picking up children to four at one time. Hackman stated that she would be willing to limit the classes to 8 children and stagger the class time. She noted that although she could request the parents to stagger the class time, she is unsure whether or not parents would accommodate the request. The Board noted that any approval would be based on parents accommodating the request.

The Zoning Officer stated that the Applicant could consider constructing the horseshoe driveway at the front of the property. Hackman explained that there are obstacles at the front of the property that would hinder the placement of a horseshoe driveway at the front of the property. The Board briefly discussed the proposal.

On a motion by St. Clair, seconded by Lefever, the Board voted 5-1 to grant a Special Exception under Section 204.3.A contingent upon the applicant limiting the class to provide parking for 4 off-street vehicles at one time, upon a maximum class size of 8 students, and upon the hours of operation being 5:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 3days per week (and a Saturday morning class) as stated by the applicant’s testimony. Burkhart voted against the motion.

CASE #617, JOHN KING, SR.-SPECIAL EXCEPTION: The Chairman read the zoning notice for the application received from John King, Sr., 743 East Millport Road, Leola, PA 17540. The applicant is seeking a Special Exception to the Warwick Township Zoning Ordinance under Section 201.3.B, pertaining to a Farm Occupation in an Agricultural zone. The applicant would like to operate a cheese processing plant as a secondary occupation on his property. The applicant currently operates a shed building business and would like to add the processing plant in the same building.

John King was sworn in. King testified that he would like to process cheese from his dairy herd for retail and possibly wholesale. He stated that the cheese would be processed by stainless steel equipment approved by the State, and added that the processing would occur inside. He stated that he would like to construct a new 55' x 60' building on the property for the processing. He explained that 1/3 of the building would be used for cheese processing, and a portion would be used for coolers, and a truck to transfer milk into a 1,000 gallon tank. He noted that his herd currently provides 6,000 gallons of milk in two days. He stated that the cheese processing would occur every 2-3 days. He explained that cheese would be shipped to New York 5 days per week. He noted that the deliveries occur at approximately 2:30 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The Zoning Officer explained that the applicant is currently working with the Township to develop a Conservation Plan and Stormwater Plan for the property. King explained that he currently has 55 head of cattle on his 40 acre farm. The Zoning Officer explained that the property owner received approval to operate a storage shed construction business on the property on February 12, 2003. King detailed the available options for handling waste water from the cheese processing business (manure pit, irrigation, or wetlands). The Zoning Officer explained that the Ordinance does not limit the number of farm occupations on a property. King testified that the employees would be family members; however, he may need to hire a cheese maker. King explained that the they would pasteurize the milk to process the cheese rather than aging the cheese. The Board advised that the Zoning Ordinance allows up to two outside individuals to be employed by the business.

King stated that he would like to provide a rack for the treated lumber that is used for the shed business as part of the new building.

The Chairman inquired whether anyone present wishes to either become a party to the case or provide any comments. No one present indicated their desire to comment on the case.

On a motion by Lefever, seconded by St. Clair, the Board voted unanimously to grant a Special Exception under Section 201.3.B to allow the cheese processing business, contingent upon the Applicant adhering to all Local, State, and Federal guidelines, and upon limiting the number of outside employees to 2 individuals (in accordance with Section 425 of the Zoning Ordinance).

ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas L. Zorbaugh
Code and Zoning Officer