Slippery Rock Township asphalt plant appeal decision pending
A Common Pleas Court judge heard arguments Wednesday, April 2, but didn’t immediately issue a ruling on an appeal of the Slippery Rock Township Zoning Hearing Board’s 2022 approval of a cold mix asphalt plant at the corner of Route 8 and Stoughton Road.
President Judge S. Michael Yeager listened to arguments from attorneys representing current and former Slippery Rock residents who appealed the decision and attorneys representing the board, and said he would take the arguments under advisement.
Attorney John M. Smith, who represents the residents, argued the board didn’t address issues about odors the plant would emit and the location of a driveway to the plant that Yeager remanded to the board in 2023.
The residents who filed the appeal are Paul Boas, Christopher Coleman and Marcia Carnahan. Carnahan used to live near the proposed plant site, but has moved.
Attorney Brian Farrington, who represents the board, argued that the board has met its burden to respond the remanded issues, and asked the court to deny the appeal.
Heilman Pavement Specialties, also known as Hei-Way Premium Asphalt Materials, has proposed building the plant on property partially in a light industrial zoning district and partially on neighboring property in a rural conservation district.
The board filed a supplemental finding of facts in May 2024 after Yeager denied the appeal, but remanded issues involving plant odors and the driveway back to the board in May 2023, and after Commonwealth Court dismissed the appeal in February 2023.
Those findings do not address the issues, Smith argued. He said the findings are based on testimony from an air quality expert who said the plant should not emit objectionable odors and cited air samples he took from Hei-Way’s asphalt plant in Sarver.
In addition, the findings did not address the court’s denial of a plan to build an access road to the plant on the part of the property in the rural conservation district, Smith said. He argued that relocating the road would require relocating the plant, which would impact the odors leaving the plant.
Smith said the board “punted” instead of addressing the remanded issues.
The board has discretion in determining credibility, and found the air quality expert’s testimony to be credible, Farrington said.
He argued that objectionable is a subjective word because what a residence would consider objectionable would be different from what an industrial site would find objectionable.
Hei-Way was not required to identify the location of the access road when it applied for a special exception to build the plant, Smith said. He said the driveway will be placed on the property with the appropriate zoning, but the driveway is a land development issue that was not part of the special exception application.
In addition, Smith said Carnahan should no longer have standing as an objector because she moved. He said the board’s decision to grant the special exception to build the plant should be affirmed.
“I think we’re going to win,” Boas said after the hearing. If not, he said the decision will be appealed to Commonwealth Court. He said the goal of the appeal is to keep pollution out of Slippery Rock Creek, which runs along the proposed plant site.
Boas joined members of Save Slippery Rock Creek in a demonstration against the plant outside the courthouse before the hearing.
