Cecil Approves Conditional-Use Ordinance; Overlay Districts

Despite a plea from Marcellus Shale industry leader Range Resources, supervisors on Tuesday approved two ordinances—one that will create a drilling overlay district and the other that will make the activity a conditional use.

The action came after months of public hearings, and despite the objections of Range attorney Ken Komoroski, who said the company was “disappointed” by both moves.

He “strongly urged” the board to table the matters, citing “some productive conversations” at a public hearing held before the regular meeting. If passed, he said they would “negatively affect Range Resources’ plan for Cecil Township.”

Before making the motion to adopt the conditional-use ordinance, Supervisor Kevin Camerson asked if Solicitor John Smith could draft language that would set a fast-track timetable for application approvals.

He suggested that the board be required to make a decision on all conditional-use applications associated with drilling within 60 days of submission—but Smith said that could be taken care of in a separate ordinance.

“I think we’ve come a long way,” Camerson told Komoroski, noting that the township at first wanted to prohibit bunk housing but now allows it on a limited basis.

He then made the motion to approve the conditional-use ordinance. It was seconded by Supervisor Andy Schrader. The motion passed 5-0.

Under the township’s old ordinance, which was passed in 2010, drilling was allowed as a permitted use.

Range Resources has long said the conditional-use process is often lengthy and cumbersome—and makes it difficult to plan long-term operations. And Komoroski again on Tuesday expressed his disdain for the process, calling it unpredictable.

But supervisors maintained that the conditional-use process would allow them to oversee those operations more effectively and set sight-specific conditions.

Also approved after debate Tuesday was a drilling overlay district. The district sets boundaries for drilling—not allowing the activity within 500 feet of an occupied structure or within 2,000 feet of a school.

Debbis said the board opted for the 500-foot buffer because it was a distance that the industry had recommended—a notion at which Komoroski scoffed.

“It was not suggested in the context of conditional use,” he told the chairman. “For you to tell this audience that is disingenuous at best.”

He said the 500-foot distance was suggested in a model ordinance presented by Range as part of a permitted-use process.

But the map presented Tuesday?

“This is the first I’m seeing this concept,” he said.

The back-and-forth between Komoroski and the board was often punctuated by loud outbursts from audience members—most notably Cecil resident Mary Dalbo.

Wearing a white Range Resources hard hat and sitting in the front row, cane in hand, she heckled the board, and told Debbis to “shut up” when he asked her to quiet down.

When another resident spoke up in favor of the overlay districts and conditional-use process she taunted her, saying, “You’re just mad you don’t get a royalty check.”

But despite the interruptions, Komoroski was clear: “Those overlays as presented would be illegal, they would be unlawful and would prohibit drilling in (most parts) of the township,” he said.

The board ultimately included language in the ordinance that would allow residents to waive the 500-foot distance. It also included language that would allow the board to waive that distance when the structure in question is uninhabited—such as a barn.

Schrader made the motion to approve the overlay district ordinance with Debbis making the second. It was passed by a vote of 5-0.

The approvals come weeks after Range Resources challenged the validity of