Zoning petition for new park withdrawn

The variance request was withdrawn Friday, but the township solicitor said he did not know why.
HILLSVILLE, Pa. -- About 40 Mahoning Township residents came to a meeting of the Mahoning Township Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday to oppose construction of an 1,100-acre adventure park for four-wheeler recreational vehicles and motor bikes.
Zoning Appeals Board Chairman William Changoway surprised them by announcing there would be no hearing because petitioner Kenneth Shick III had withdrawn his petition for a zoning variance to allow the facility. What the withdrawal means was not immediately clear.
The Hillsville Off-Road Adventure Park Inc. proposed by Shick could not be allowed in the township without a zoning variance because such facilities are not mentioned in the township zoning ordinance.
The proposed location at 4367 W. State St. fronts on the south side of U.S. Route 224 in the area of the old coal tipple and extends over a wide area towards North Beaver Township and Bessemer. It spans several Mahoning Township zoning districts including Industrial, Industrial Park, Conservation, Mixed Use Highway and Village 1, and is adjacent to Butch Estates, an upscale new housing development.
Withdrawal
Zoning Appeals Board Solicitor Louis Perrotta said after the meeting that Shick withdrew his variance request Friday afternoon but said he did not know why. Shick did not return a call to his home Tuesday night.
Heather Micco, a neighbor to the proposed facility, was ready to present petitions with 86 signatures opposing the park. She said the signatures had been collected door-to-door and there had been informal meetings among neighbors.
Micco said she had also passed fliers urging neighbors to attend Tuesday's meeting and oppose the facility because of concerns over reduced property values, noise pollution, child safety issues, increased trash, crime, traffic flow, sanitation issues and an influx of strangers into the neighborhood.
Township residents frequently complain at township meetings about problems caused by the four-wheelers trespassing over private property and congregating at nearby quarries.