Weathersfield denies request for zone change

MINERAL RIDGE -- The Weathersfield Township Zoning Commission denied a request Wednesday to change five acres of wooded property off state Route 46 from Residential-A to Commercial-A.
The Commercial-A classification permits light commercial use such as banks and office buildings. Residential-A is for single-family homes.
Walter and Dorothy Malinowski sought the zone change at 3542 Main St.
The first 200 feet of the property is already zoned commercial, township administrator David Pugh said, but most of the property the rezoning was sought for is wooded land, most of which goes behind homes already on Route 46.
The couple has a cell phone company interested in putting up towers on the land, but the commission was concerned that once the zoning was changed, there is no control over future types of development on the Commercial-A classification. The back part of the property has an industrial zoned site on it on Union Street.
The issue will be considered by the township trustees, who can uphold or overturn the commission's decision when it has a public hearing on the matter.