HERMITAGE Petition seeks repeal of new-sidewalk law

City officials agreed to meet with the signers of a petition who asked that the law be repealed.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- A dispute over a sidewalk ordinance is heating up.
A city landscaping law requires all new construction or large expansion projects in nonresidential areas to build sidewalks.
Petition signers: Bill Smith, owner of Star Tech Inc. on North Hermitage Road, presented city commissioners with a petition Thursday signed by 31 residents and/or business owners who want the ordinance to be repealed.
The petition, presented at a commissioners' work session, alleges that the regulation, adopted last year, is discouraging development.
The sidewalk requirement drew recent attention when a developer remodeling the former Stambaugh store building in Hermitage Hills Plaza along the Shenango Valley Freeway was told it would not be excused from building a 400-foot sidewalk along the freeway.
The sidewalk goes nowhere and connects to nothing, but the city's zoning hearing board refused to allow an exception to the requirement.
Gary Hinkson, city manager, said commissioners directed him to set up a meeting with those who signed the petition to make sure they fully understand the ordinance and to hear their comments.
Day-care centers: In other matters, commissioners conducted a public hearing on an ordinance that would allow day-care centers in central and highway commercial zoning districts.
They are allowed only in certain residential areas, but Hinkson said there is interest in opening one on North Hermitage Road in a commercial zone.
Backers of the plan pointed out that people who work in commercial areas are the people who need day-care services and that it makes sense to locate such centers close to where the people work, he said.