FRANKLIN TWP — After more than an hour and 45 minutes hearing more than 30 residents speaking against a proposed comprehensive property maintenance ordinance Monday, the township supervisors voted 2-1 in its favor Monday.

Approximately 200 people attended the meeting, which was moved to The Atrium venue to accommodate the expected large crowd.

People in attendance spoke out against aspects of the ordinance, including the language many said was too vague, because it could be abused by future supervisors elected, or even the code enforcement officer the ordinance creates the need for.

Residents also complained about the noise limits included in the ordinance, limiting noise to 60 decibels in multiple different property types.

The language also includes exemptions for organizations and “agriculture” properties, which residents also took issue with.

Some residents who spoke said some aspects included in the comprehensive ordinance were agreeable, while others were overreaching and could be abused.“There are so many problems that this doesn't account for,” said Brian Jesteadt, a lifelong resident of Franklin Township. “It's who we are, that's what this community is about, helping each other and being there for each other. You can't force respect, you can only force compliance.”The new ordinance makes it unlawful to store a junk vehicle on the exterior of a private or public property, unlawful to leave more than five pieces of mechanical equipment in public view, unlawful to store any residential or commercial trash or bulk waste outside on private or public property unless stored in a proper container for regular disposal and unlawful to haul trash to another property for disposal.Residents can not deposit waste onto public property, the ordinance says.Residents can also not use a vehicle as a place of residence within the township.A residence can't conduct a garage sale for more than three days a year.

The ordinance also enacts a noise regulation, saying residents cannot produce sound exceeding 60 decibels.Finally, the ordinance creates the position of a code enforcement official, which the Board of Supervisors will appoint an official to annually. Residents will be notified when they are violating an ordinance, and when applicable, will have 30 days to cure the violation.Vito Pilosi, who is also a member of the Slippery Rock Area School District school board, asked that the supervisors put the ordinance on the ballot as a referendum so they could decide on its fate.“There are some things in this ordinance I think we all agree could be improvements, not the way it's written now,” he said. “More time and effort needs to be put into this.”

People who spoke at the meeting also said the ordinance makes it illegal to perform the actions many people in the township do for fun or necessity, such as using tools, working on vehicles outside and shooting guns. Several people said they moved to the township to take advantage of the rural space available.Supervisor chairman Herman Bauer Jr. said the ordinance will not implement “sweeping change,” and is more focused on handling repeat offenders.“Basically, this property maintenance ordinance came from complaints from residents we've received over the course of time,” he said. “We tried to be very reasoned in how we approached this.”Bauer also said the current language of the ordinance could be amended.“Changes will occur as the language causes a problem,” he said.The ordinance is effective immediately, as per its language.