HERMITAGE, PA. Commission backs plan for Handel's

The commission opposes expanding a general residential/office zone.
THE VINDICATOR
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The city is getting a Handel's Ice Cream store.
The city planning commission approved a land development plan for the store Monday, approving its location in the Shenango Valley Mall parking lot along East State Street.
The store will be located between the Sears Auto Center and Firestone Tire & amp; Service Center buildings already in the mall lot.
The plan calls for a subdivision of the lot to create a 32,000-square-foot parcel for the 1,544 square-foot building.
Rezoning rejection
In other business, the commission recommended rejection of a rezoning request from Igor Pyatetsky for land he owns at 1795 Valley View Road. Part of the property fronts on Pa. Route 18.
Pyatetsky wants the 1.3 acres rezoned from single-family residential to a general residential/office use district.
His application for the zoning change said he intends to use the land for a professional office.
The property abuts a highway commercial zoning district both on the south and across Route 18 to the west and is across Valley View Road from a general residential/office district, as well as other single-family residential land. Land to the north remains as single-family residential.
The planning commission doesn't have the final decision. That rests with the city commissioners.
The planning commission, however, voted Monday to recommend rejection of the request after citing concerns about traffic and the effect on the neighborhood that the zoning change might bring.
Mercer County Regional Planning Commission has also reviewed the rezoning request and recommended its rejection.
City commissioners will hold a public hearing on the issue at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.