Eldred Township supervisors and residents listened to a presentation Wednesday night about creating a Village Mixed Use Overlay District.

The new zoning district would lie over top part of the current commercial district of Kunkletown. There would still be area in the commercial district that would not be in the village overlay.

Ann Velopolcek, the township secretary, gave the presentation on behalf of a group of residents concerned about future growth in the town.

Velopolcek said the goal of the zoning change is to encourage small-business development, while discouraging big box stores and warehouses from popping up in the village area.

“Small businesses have always been the heart of our village life,” she said. “We want to preserve the opportunity for small businesses to come into the town and be successful.”

The current zoning ordinances do not provide safe measures to prevent large companies from wanting to set up business in the village area of the commercial district, Velopolcek said.

“As long as they meet all of the criteria of our zoning ordinance, we have no way of stopping them from doing whatever they want to do here in the village,” she said.

The village overlay district would create new criteria for businesses that want to come into the area, while preserving the atmosphere of the town.

The area within the overlay would run along Kunkletown Road from the municipal building east to just short of Barry Lane, and from White Church Lane south to Barnhouse Lane and Engler Lane south to Buckwha Creek area.

The goal is to create an area called Village Square on the Old Mill Property acquired by the township in 2017 and the Smale House, which was acquired in 2018.

The Village Square would become a focal point in the township and would highlight and preserve access to the Buckwha Creek and the Stone Arch Bridge, Velopolcek said. The overlay would also create a trailhead for the Rail Trail and bring attention to the historic post office, the Kunkletown General Store, Mock Park and the community center.

Velopolcek said the new zoning would regulate the types and sizes of buildings and keep them to a maximum of 7,000 square feet. It would also limit the heights of new buildings and regulate facades and signage. It would apply only to new construction, not the existing structures in town.

Houses would be permitted in the mixed use overlay, as well as structures with a business on the ground floor and a residence above it.

Velopolcek said the group thinks it would be a good area for retail businesses, personal services, restaurants, microbreweries, financial and insurance companies, or bed-and-breakfast establishments.

Nothing is set, she said. These are just ideas being put out to the community.

“Public comment is really critical,” she said. “Today in 2022, we are uniquely positioned to preserve what we love of our past, select the way our little village will look in the future, and give the gift of village life to our children and grandchildren, so that they may enjoy the same quality of life that we have become accustomed to, that we hold dear, and that we find value in each day that we are privileged to live in the village of Kunkletown.”

Resident Mary Anne Clausen said, “If you put this into effect, it doesn’t change anything that exists now, so there’s no harm in it. So why not be proactive and do away of the possibility of something that comes in that really changes the character”

Velopolcek said she might create a survey to try to get more input from the residents. In the meantime, residents are welcome to contact her at the township office at 610-381-4252 for more information about the overlay district or to give their suggestions.