Gladstone will appear before Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board about cargo airport

By JILL WHALEN (TIMES-SHAMROCK Writer jwhalen@standardspeaker.com)
Published: August 24, 2010

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HAZLETON ­- Assistant Schuylkill County solicitor Robert Frycklund said Gladstone Partners won't technically be taking its plans to build a cargo airport before the county again.

While Gladstone Partners will appear before the Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board on Sept. 2, Frycklund said the hearing board is not a county agency.

"The board is funded by tax dollars, but, like the Schuylkill County court system, it is not a county agency," he said.

Once members are appointed by the Schuylkill County commissioners, he said, the board becomes an "independent, quasi-judicial" body.

"They are not 'governed by,' nor do they 'report to,' the board of commissioners, or by any other governing body. The sole recourse of a party which is dissatisfied with a decision of the zoning hearing board is to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas," Frycklund said.

One of the zoning board's areas of jurisdiction is hearing and ruling on appeals from certain decisions of the zoning officer, Frycklund said. The board also has original jurisdiction over certain zoning matters including special exceptions, variances and rule changes, he said.

Gladstone, of Pittsburgh, will request a special exception from the county that, if granted, would allow construction of a cargo airport, accessory facilities and a business park. East Union Township officials have said they will argue against the firm's request based on previous court decisions.

Last year, Gladstone filed a special exception application with the Schuylkill County Zoning and Planning Office a day before the township adopted its zoning ordinance. The ordinance took township land use decisions from the county and put authority in the township's hands. The county zoning officer ruled against Gladstone, saying the firm knew of the township's intent to handle its own zoning when it submitted the application.

The decision was based on the "pending ordinance doctrine."

"That, in a nutshell, was the conclusion of the County of Schuylkill's involvement in the matter," Frycklund said.

Repeated attempts to contact Gladstone representatives have been unsuccessful.

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