Farmington Township's efforts to discontinue its affiliation with the Warren County zoning ordinance appear to have slowed, if not ceased.
"There have been no new developments," Warren County Commissioner John Eggleston said on Wednesday. "We have not heard from the Farmington Township supervisors.
"We have sent them a letter saying that they formally needed to petition us to remove themselves from the system and we have, to this date, not heard anything more from them."
Sean McCarthy, vice chairman of the Farmington Township supervisors, said on Wednesday there is nothing new to report, but he is "expecting something in the future" on this issue.
"There will be some more," he said. "It's not over yet."
A letter from the Farmington Township Supervisors dated May 1 requesting removal from the county zoning ordinance was presented to the county commissioners at a public meeting on May 23. In the letter, the supervisors wrote, "The current board of supervisors questions the validity of our participation, and our own research is unable to verify any action by Farmington Township which would substantiate our relinquishing planning and zoning activities to the county."
Since then, the Warren County Planning and Zoning Commission at its June meeting recommended that the commissioners not allow the "secession" of Farmington Township from the zoning ordinance.
During that meeting, County Planning Director Dan Glotz said he had found records of a public hearing on Sept. 8, 1969 which led to official action amending the county zoning ordinance to add Farmington Township. "I find it hard to believe the county would just randomly zone Farmington Township without official request," Glotz said in June. "Otherwise, the whole county would be zoned."
The zoning ordinance currently does not include municipalities without zoning ordinances, such as Brokenstraw and Pittsfield townships or those who zone themselves, such as the City of Warren and Youngsville Borough.
The county commissioners, if formally petitioned, would schedule a public hearing on the matter. Following the hearing, the commissioners could then vote to allow or deny the request.
As the township did not express a desire to enact its own zoning regulations, the commissioners must approve the move. If the township went through the necessary steps to handle zoning itself, its ordinance would automatically supersede the county ordinance under Pennsylvania law.