After a few years of work, Bath Township nears a zoning overlay on Route 309, but not before another public hearing.
The township has set in motion for a zoning overlay on the north side of Route 309 from Saratoga Avenue to the Immanuel Baptist Church. One trustee said the overlay sets restrictions and requirements for property development without changing the zoning. A public meeting is set with the zoning commission on Thursday, January 9, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. in the Bath Township Social Hall. They will discuss what those restrictions might be for the overlay. The regional planning commission has already approved the plan with their own suggestions.
"Then if somebody comes in they have to acquire the property," Bob Sielschott said, Bath Township Trustee. "If they acquire the property they can request a change in its use and the way they have to do that is they've got to bring us a development plan. That development plan has to meet the requirements that we set out in advance for the whole area in the overlay plan."
Sielschott says Bath has been behind on development and he has a vision of what the overlay plan could bring.
"The opportunities for business expansion and residential living expansion were very limited," Sielschott said. They've been laid dormant for a long time while the surrounding communities got more creative. Now we think we're the township now on the cutting edge because we have investigated and are using these new more enlightened vehicles for properly-controlled opportunities for business growth."
After the public hearing, the plan will head back to the trustees either denied, approved or approved with suggestions.
