West Penn Township’s new zoning ordinance continues to come closer to fruition.

Township solicitor Paul J. Datte on Monday provided an update on the ordinance to the board of supervisors.

Charles Schmehl, consultant with Urban Research and Development Corp., is working on the revisions, Datte said.

Datte said he received the revised zoning map on Monday, which he believes addresses Mill Drive.

In the meantime, he said the township is waiting for some revisions of the text of the ordinance from Schmehl.

Datte said once the board has that back and feels it can be published, then it needs to go to both the township and county planning commissions for comment.

There would then be one more public hearing before the board of supervisors, he said, after which the board could adopt the ordinance sometime after the hearing.

Datte noted there will be an advertisement posted, which will have the public hearing date, and said the board at a public meeting will consider a vote.

Last month, supervisors held a workshop prior to their regular meeting, at which time they heard from residents who had questions and concerns about the proposed ordinance.

Schmehl, who attended the workshop remotely, said that since the last discussions, he had received a letter from resident Daniel Poncavage, who expressed concerns about changing the zoning from “agricultural” to “light industrial” in an area near the village of Andreas. The letter contained signatures from several residents who were also opposed to the change.

The matter was discussed during the workshop, and supervisors directed Schmehl to return the zoning designation to agricultural.

Portions of Mill Drive will also revert to agricultural use.

Schmehl noted that ‘highway commercial’ was removed on portions of Mill Drive that do not front on Routes 443 and 309.

Supervisor Tim Houser asked at that time whether the ordinance would allow for large warehouses in the township, and asked if there was any specific place in the township’s zoning that it has for warehouses.

Schmehl said the only available areas permitting warehouses would be highway commercial districts, as most of the highway commercial district isn’t deep enough to have a large warehouse, though the township could have some warehouses on 309.

Board Chairman Tony Prudenti said at the workshop that while reviewing the draft, he realized that cemeteries were permitted in all areas except for those zoned industrial.

Schmehl said that if there is a reason to limit it to one or two districts, he would draft the ordinance accordingly.

Resident Brian McQuillen said at the workshop that he was concerned that people would be allowed to store large quantities of manure on land zoned for industrial use.

He said he wasn’t opposed to farmers using manure, but didn’t want to see businesses truck in the substance, store it for months, and have the odors permeate neighborhoods.

Schmehl said he would add a provision to the ordinance to dictate how the material should be regulated.

Prudenti said at that time the board would likely hold another meeting about the ordinance.

He added that the zoning changes aren’t new, as the board began working on the ordinance roughly four years ago.