FARRELL Church opposes variance

The church doesn't want an animal shelter located just a door away.
FARRELL, Pa. -- The Pentecostal House of Prayer has asked Mercer County Common Pleas Court to overturn a zoning variance ruling that would let an animal shelter be built at Fruit Avenue and Roemer Boulevard.
The Mercer County Humane Society secured the variance from the Farrell Zoning Hearing Board on Sept. 20, announcing plans to construct an indoor shelter to house rescued dogs, cats and birds.
The ruling raised the ire of Pentecostal House of Prayer members and others in the community who felt that the location, just a door away from the church, isn't the proper location for an animal shelter.
Willing to look
Richard Harakal, president of the humane society, said his group is willing to look at other sites for its combination shelter-office but that the Fruit and Roemer location, which he owns, appears to be the best deal.
Other sites are too expensive for the society and he is willing to let the society pay him when it can for the Fruit and Roemer site, Harakal said.
Opponents of the zoning variance had 30 days to file an appeal in common pleas court, and that appeal was filed Friday by Atty. Ronald Amrhein.
It asks the court to overturn the zoning board's decision.
Liz Fair, Mercer County prothonotary, said the appeal was filed in her office and she will have to secure the case record from the zoning hearing board before sending the appeal on to court.
That process should be completed within 20 days, she said.