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When supervisors in West Cornwall Township passed a property maintenance code a year ago to address general upkeep of residential and non-residential properties, it didn’t include how property owners could challenge a notice they had violated the ordinance.
On Monday, township supervisors rectified that by approving two resolutions that established a process for filing an appeal, identified a board to hear the appeal, and set penalties for violations should they be upheld.
According to the appeals resolution, property owners who receive a notice of violation of the property maintenance code will have 10 days to submit a written appeal. The appeal will be heard after a regularly scheduled meeting of supervisors who were appointed as members of the Board of Appeals.
If the violation is upheld, it would go before the district magistrate, who would set a fine or deadline for compliance. Violators could be fined up to $1,000, according to the resolution.
In May, code enforcement officer Jeff Steckbeck told supervisors he had investigated six property-related complaints, but he couldn’t cite owners for violations without an appeals process and appeals board. He said Monday that he anticipates issuing the six notices of violation shortly.
Steckbeck, who also serves as engineer for the West Cornwall Township Municipal Authority, reported that as of July 1, 38 authority customers had not paid their water/sewer bills issued on May 1. A second late-payment notice will be sent July 11 to those delinquent accounts. Should the bills continue unpaid, the authority will proceed with shut-off notices, Steckbeck said.
In other business, supervisors discussed doubling their annual salary from $600 or $50 per monthly meeting to $1,200 effective 2026. Setting a new salary would require an ordinance.
Supervisor Dennis Tulli, who proposed the increase, noted the township is allowed by law to pay $1,875 to supervisors of townships with a population of up to 4,900.
“We do a lot of meetings, and we don’t get paid for a lot of them,” Tulli said.
Supervisors also considered a request for a zoning text amendment to allow the construction of a private school in the C-2 or general commercial zone. The C-2 zone does not permit a school as a use by right or by special exception.
The school at Old Mine Road and SR 117 would be small, with fewer than 80 students in grades 1-10, said Wilmer Zimmerman, who asked about the text amendment. White Oak Mennonite Church would own the property, he added.
Supervisors advised Zimmerman and attorney Nick Gard to present more detailed plans to the planning commission that would then recommend whether to allow for this proposed use in the C-2 zone.
Also reported at Monday’s meeting:
- Site work on the Apartments at 419 on West Main Street, Quentin, is 80 percent complete, Steckbeck said;
- The zoning hearing board will meet at 6 p.m., Tuesday, July 16, to consider a request by Eastern Enterprises to subdivide two lots on SR 117 in Mount Gretna to sell to current tenants. This will require a request for setback variances and a special exception approval of existing parking, Steckbeck said.
- Residents can review a draft of the Regional Comprehensive Plan at an open house from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 18, in LG1 at at Cedar Crest High School.
West Cornwall Township supervisors meet at 73 S. Zinns Mill Road on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The next meeting will be held Aug. 12. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.
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