Concluding a review that went on for more than a year, and described as the result of the most comprehensive such effort undertaken “in over a decade,” Bedminster has approved a variety of changes to its zoning ordinance.
Starting as correcting “tweaks” such as typos, and then moving into more substantive changes, the now-amended ordinance was adopted by the board of supervisors on Sept. 12. It had been approved for advertising at its July 12 meeting, and approval followed a public hearing at the Sept. 12 meeting.
Among the more significant changes, “Commercial Solar Energy Facility” was added to permitted uses, with regulations and criteria applicable to “a utility-scale solar energy facility constituting the principal use of the property and designed to produce energy for sale to third parties.”
Regulations were modified for an existing permitted use of “Accessory Solar Energy System.”
In another alternative energy matter, regulations were modified for the existing permitted use “Wind Energy Conversion System,” defined to include “a structure, such as a windmill, which converts wind energy to mechanical or electrical energy” as “an accessory use to the principal use on the property.”
Other significant zoning changes included amending performance standards for protection of preserved farmland soils; various requirements for buffer plantings; and regulations against odorous emissions “beyond the lot boundary line of the property from which the odors are being emitted,” and in the industrial district, “beyond the district boundary line.” The latter does not apply to agricultural operations.
Also at the Sept. 12 meeting, supervisors approved township police department participation in an intergovernmental agreement, with departments from Dublin, Hilltown, Perkasie, and Pennridge Regional, to help enforce laws surrounding safe operation of vehicles near school buses. During discussion, Bedminster’s Chief Matt Phelan noted local enforcement had already been very successful.
In another police matter, supervisors approved a general order “providing guidelines regarding the process, transportation, and security of prisoners who are in the custody of the township police and are transported to the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office for Central Booking. Chief Phelan explained the guidelines helped relieve township limitations in its own facilities.
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