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North Annville Township supervisors denied Monday a traffic rerouting request from Annville Township officials that included a one-day exemption to an ordinance prohibiting large tractor-trailers on Clear Spring Road.
The traffic rerouting request was for June 14 during Historic Old Annville Day, an event that’s been held annually since 1989, according to Annville Township manager Candie Johnson.
Over the years, Historic Old Annville Day has grown to include musical performances, vendors, food stands and booths manned by various service organizations, Johnson said.
The annual request to reroute traffic was made because Annville Township officials close Route 422 through town for the festival that showcases historic downtown and serves as a fundraiser event for the Friends of Old Annville and other local service organizations.
On that date in mid-June, Clear Spring Road has traditionally served as a temporary detour for all traffic since Route 422 is closed for eight hours in downtown Annville for the event.
What led to that rerouting request that contained an exemption being denied this year, however, was passage of an ordinance last summer that prohibits trucks larger than 43 feet from using the two-mile stretch of Clear Spring Road. That roadway connects state Route 422 to state Route 934 north of Annville.
Read More: N. Annville Twp. supervisors pass two ordinances for Clear Spring Road
“Right now, I don’t have a solution,” Johnson told LebTown during a telephone interview Tuesday. “Actually, it puts a whole kibosh to it. I have to try to find another route, and we’ve looked at it, the police and I, and we’re trying to work on it. But at this point, I’m really frustrated.”
Johnson said she believed the waiver request Annville Township officials made was minimal. “We asked for it from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. We just wanted one day, that’s all we wanted was that one day for the whole entire year.”
During discussion at the North Annville Township meeting and before the denial decision, several township residents spoke out against the request, including an individual who said granting one exemption would lead to others.
Johnson told LebTown, however, that the event was the only occasion that Annville annually asked to reroute traffic onto Clear Spring Road, adding there was no intention to request more. Each year, Annville Township asked for permission to reroute traffic because the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation requires alternate routes for a road closure permit to be issued.
When asked by township chairman Clyde Meyer for his legal opinion on the request, North Annville Township solicitor Paul Bametzreider said he was “hesitant” to honor it.
“That ordinance was put into place for safety reasons,” he said. “That would make me a little hesitant in going ahead and waving the enforcement of that ordinance for the day. Maybe if they were willing to indemnify the township, you might want to think about that, indemnify the township against any accidents that happened on that road.”
Supervisor Aaron Miller asked Bametzreider if the township could provide an arbitrary exemption for one day while adding he thought it was “odd” to exempt an ordinance. Bametzreider agreed with Miller.
“It is a law, it is legislation that you put into place so I don’t see it, that’s a very good point, yes. I don’t see how you could do that,” he said, adding when asked that the supervisors did not have to make a final decision now.
Miller said the legality of an exemption would have to be researched. Bametzreider replied that state law does not include a provision for that to happen.
Meyer said without clarifying who made the comment that he, nodding in the direction of Miller and Bametzreider, had a good idea to allow truck traffic to travel south on Mount Pleasant Road to state Route 322 so that South Annville Township could “see how they like the trucks.”
Johnson told LebTown that Annville Township officials will meet to explore other rerouting options, including the possibility of using Mount Pleasant Road. Killinger Road is not option since an old bridge is on it. Johnson added that pushing traffic towards Route 322 forces all vehicles to travel southward. (She stated that Route 934 is allowed to remain open for traffic to pass through town.)
Immediately after Meyer’s comment, another resident asked if the supervisors wanted to “take a vote of the congregation here?” That statement drew laughter from those in attendance at the meeting.
No one spoke in favor of issuing an exemption.
Township supervisor Adam Wolfe said he didn’t want to drag out a decision until next month if they weren’t going to vote to approve the request. Bametzreider said it was “highly unlikely” that the township supervisors would be able to suspend the ordinance.
“Without adopting some kind of an ordinance, another ordinance saying that that date in June the ordinance would have no effect but that (on) this date it will come back,” said Bametzreider. “That just sounds crazy.”
The conversation ended without a formal vote. Supervisors asked township secretary Wolfe to notify Annville Township officials that their request had been denied.
Johnson said it’s sad to think that the event, which has become a fundraiser for numerous organizations including the Friends of Olde Annville, might end.
“The thing is that for Friends of Old Annville, this is the big fundraiser for them for the year,” she said. “They give out grants with that money and they do good things for the community with the money they make on Old Annville Day. This would really stifle the Friends of Old Annville.”
That organization won’t be the only entity to hurt financially if the event were to end.
“It’s the impact to the businesses. When you come to Old Annville Days, the businesses have their doors open, people patronize all the little shops. The Corvette is open, the church is making their ethnic food and making money doing that. … It’s a fundraiser for all of those entities too,” said Johnson, adding that the fire company and other organizations will feel the financial crunch. “It’s just sad, it’s just sad.”
Johnson said township officials will meet with the Annville Township Police Department and representatives from Old Historic Annville Day to explore alternatives.
An email to the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors asking if exemptions can be granted by township supervisors for existing ordinances was not returned as of publication.
In other business, supervisors voted unanimously to:
- Pay all township bills, as read.
- Grant the Mel Graham lot additional land plans as approved by the Lebanon County Planning Department and the North Annville Township Planning Commission.
- Approve the minutes of their Dec. 9 meeting and treasurer’s report.
North Annville Township supervisors meet the second Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Union Water Works social hall, 2875 Water Works, Annville.
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