The Carbon County Lion/Lioness Fair Association went before the Lower Towamensing Township Zoning Hearing Board this week for approval to subdivide land it owns behind properties on Little Gap Road.

The association also wants a variance from the requirement that they must have lot frontage and access for the portion of their land that sits on the other side of the Aquashicola Creek. It is not accessible from theirnewly acquired property at 3005 S. Little Gap Road.

This isn’t the first time the fair association has been before the board.

In July 2017, they sought to have their 682.94 acres of land subdivided, but none of their land had road frontage. It is in a rural conservation zoning district, which requires a minimum lot width of 200 feet along the front lot line next to the street.

At that time, Duane Dellecker, the zoning officer for Lower Towamensing Township, said in a letter to the fair association that he could not approve the subdivision, because the zoning ordinance prohibits creating a lot that does not abut a street. When there is no road frontage, the property becomes land locked.

“We weren’t meeting the requirements for lot frontage along an access road,” said Michael Muffley, an engineer with Hanover Engineering in Bartonsville. “At that time, there was a right of way easement established through lands with Ampal Inc. And at that time, it was decided that the language was not strong enough in that easement to support a perpetual access to the site.”

The association withdrew the application and acquired a new property to develop a driveway.

Now that it owns that lot, the fair association is hoping to get approval to subdivide it into three lots.

Superfund sites

Lot 1 is part of the land designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Superfund site and in need of environmental remediation.

Lot 2 is the largest section consisting of 372.46 acres between the Appalachian Trail and the Aquashicola Creek. Currently, it is also listed in the land for remediation, but Muffley said the EPA will release it from this designation if it can be subdivided from Lot 1.

Lot 3 is about 41 acres along the north side of the Aquashicola Creek and accessible through the newly acquired properties. Access to Lot 1 and 2 is through an existing easement with Stoney Ridge Materials site owned by the American Zinc Recycling Corp., because there isn’t any bridge over the Aquashicola Creek to provide access.

Zoning Hearing Board member James DeRosa asked Muffley and Robert Silliman, president of the Carbon County Fair Association, if they would build a bridge. Silliman said no, and Muffley said it wasn’t feasible for the fair association due to the cost.

The council also asked if the lots along Little Gap Road would be incorporated into the 41-acre parcel. Muffley said no, because a railroad track runs between the Lot 3 and the lots along the road.

The problem the board continued to have throughout the hearing was access to Lots 1 and 2.

Value of property

“Property 1 is tied up as a superfund site with the EPA heavily involved,” Zoning Hearing Board member James Ord said. “I’m going to bet it’s going to be pretty hard to find a buyer for that property. I can’t imagine anyone is going to want to buy that liability. By subdividing that off as a separate piece of property, I’m concerned that the community, the county, the township, whoever would be left with it — if taxes were stopped being paid on it — I’m concerned about the liability becoming a public liability, which is one reason I want to hear some really good reasons why that can be taken off and separated into an independent lot. The rest of the hillside, that’s a steep hillside, but there’s people who like steep hillsides for various reasons, but there’s no access to it but through Lot 1.”

Silliman reiterated that the EPA is willing to lift the Superfund restrictions for Lots 2 and 3.

“That’s why we’re subdividing it. This will never amount to anything for as long as I live and as long as you live,” he said about Lot 1.

“But who’s responsibility is it,” DeRosa asked.

Ord asked who pays taxes on it, and Silliman said that the acreage is currently tax free, because Superfund sites are tax exempt, and because it is owned by a nonprofit organization. If it was to be subdivided and sold, then it could go back onto the tax rolls, he said.

Silliman and the board disagreed on why the fair association was not given permission to subdivide two years ago. Silliman said it was because the fair association did not own access to land that borders Little Gap Road. The board said it was because of the easement through the area under EPA remediation.

“This property is worthless as it sits,” Silliman said. “The only way that there is value and to put this back on the tax rolls is to sale part of it. ... Now the EPA is willing to lift the restrictions from parts of it to put it back in use. If it’s not subdivided off the cinder pile, we’ll never do anything with it.”

The board has 45 days to make a decision.