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MIDDLESEX TWP — The board of supervisors approved amendments to its zoning ordinance at its monthly meeting on Wednesday night, Dec. 20.

This set of zoning amendments had been winding its way through the approval process for most of 2023, reaching the desk of the township’s planning commission four times.

Prior to its official adoption, Lori Morgan of Herbert Rowland & Grubic — the township’s engineering firm — presented a revised version of the amendments for a public hearing. Morgan last presented the amendments publicly at the board of supervisors meeting in July.

“It was a very good process,” said Middlesex Township manager Jeffrey Winkle. “We started in February, had a lot of meetings between staff and the engineers. Lori Morgan did a great job for HRG.”

The amendments will make no changes to the zoning map.

However, the amendments do clarify the township’s stance on some key development issues such as breweries, agritourism, AirBNBs, and beekeeping, among others.

For one, breweries, distilleries, and wineries would be “conditionally permitted” in specific zoning districts. This means that if one of these uses is desired, it would have to be reviewed by the board of supervisors.

Breweries, distilleries, and stand-alone tasting rooms would be conditionally permitted in the town center and the Route 228 district, as well as the neighborhood, highway and commercial zoning districts. Wineries would be conditionally permitted in residential and agricultural zones.

“We are seeing sort of an uptick in these uses in southwestern Pennsylvania,” Morgan said. “We want to make sure that this is happening appropriately.”

The amendments also clarify the township’s stance on agritourism, the practice of attracting tourists to area typically used for farming. Agritourism would be permitted conditionally in rural residential (AG-A), agricultural (AG-B), residential agriculture (R-AG), and residential (R-1 and R-2) areas.

Also clarified in the amendments is the township’s stance on short-term rentals such as AirBNBs. These would be permitted by special exemption as a primary or accessory use in all residential districts, as long as they receive a one-time permit from the township.

The amendment package underwent some changes since it was last presented in July. Previously, wineries would not have been permitted in residential zones, while agritourism uses would have been. In the final version, that was reversed.

One sticking point for some residents was the stance on beekeeping and fowlkeeping. In the final version, beekeeping and fowlkeeping will be allowed as an accessory use in residential and agricultural zones, but only by permit. In addition, there are standards provided for land and waterfowl.

Some residents took issue with the fact that new regulations were required for activities that previously required none.

“Think about the impact that this additional regulation will have,” Liz McMeekin said. “If you want this township to remain rural and encourage agriculture, the more you regulate it … you’ll discourage agriculture. A farmer’s going to throw his hands up and put the property up for sale.”

However, Winkle believes that the zoning amendments struck the right balance between maintaining the township’s rural character and encouraging future development.

“One of the first things we want to do is say, let’s protect our rural nature and our agriculture,” Winkle said. “We want to protect them, but at the same time, there are new people moving in and new businesses. How do we balance that?”