A special exception request for a sawmill in Bear Lake Borough was approved by the Warren County Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday.

Chester Leslein was the applicant for his property at 715 Humphreys Corner Road.

His father in law, David Burkholder, told the board that Leslein wants to operate a small retail lumber mill.

He called it a “one-man operation.”

Warren County Planning Director Michael Lyon said that special exceptions are uses that are permitted as long as certain criteria are met.

“We’ve been out to the property,” he said, telling the board that it “more than meets all the setbacks, all the criteria.”

Lyon said the closest neighbor is nearly 1,400 feet away from the proposed sawmill.

Don Saporito, Zoning Hearing Board member, said he’s “all for small business. I think it’s great.”

The board subsequently approved the request.