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Democrats push impeachment rules package through House

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Boscov’s Halloween Bash taking place tonight from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

<p>WYOMING &#8212; A business owner in the borough said he&#8217;s correcting one zoning violation and challenging another regarding the dumping of fill in floodway.</p><p>The Luzerne County Planning and Zoning office last week issued a violation to Patrick Holdings LLC for greenhouses constructed without a permit and to Mesa Verde LLC for the fill on the former Rich&#8217;s Golf &amp; Fun Center property along Wyoming Avenue. The county handles zoning for the borough.</p><p>Patrick Kane said in an email that he&#8217;s in the process of complying with the permit requirement.</p><p>&#8220;After speaking with Luzerne County zoning, we do agree the two new green houses built adjacent our 17 existing green houses did require a permit, even though they are temporary non-footer structures and we are working with zoning to obtain the proper permit and be compliant,&#8221; Kane said.</p><p>But the fill violation is less clear cut, Kane said.</p><p>Kane referred to the <a href="https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search?AddressQuery=915%20Wyoming%20Avenue%2C%20Wyoming%20PA#searchresultsanchor" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Federal Emergency Management Agency flood map </a>for Mesa Verde&#8217;s properties and noted it was free of hatchings superimposed on adjacent properties to demarcate flood risk areas.</p><p>However, the map listed Kane&#8217;s properties as being in a floodway that holds water from Abrams Creek when floodgates are closed and prevent it from flowing into the Susquehanna River. The county&#8217;s zoning ordinance pertaining to <a href="https://www.luzernecounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/309/Zoning---Flood-Plain-Management-PDF" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Flood Plain Management</a> prohibits any development or modification, including the dumping of fill, in a floodway that would alter existing drainage paths within it.</p><p>Kane responded, &#8220;It&#8217;s is my position that because the online FEMA flood map does not show the flood hazard pattern over our property it is ambiguous and creates confusion.&#8221;</p><p>Mounds of dirt, concrete and pavement were visible near the front of the property. Farther back by the newly constructed greenhouses were more piles containing tree limbs, branches and logs.</p><p>&#8220;We do intend to challenge the violation for storing of organic material in a flood way which is being recycled and turned into mulch since our property is not correctly marked on FEMA&#8217;s flood map, and because Forty Fort Borough is also storing comparable organic material in a flood way designation at the Forty Fort Sports Complex,&#8221; Kane said.</p><p>Kane added that he&#8217;s in the process of applying for a permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to store and dispose of the plant and organic material. DEP&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dep.pa.gov/Business/Land/Waste/SolidWaste/Residual/BeneficialUse/Documents/254-5400-001.pdf?Mobile=1&amp;Source=%2FBusiness%2FLand%2FWaste%2FSolidWaste%2FResidual%2FBeneficialUse%2F%5Flayouts%2Fmobile%2Fview%2Easpx%3FList%3D7b588a92%2D1446%2D4686%2D93c8%2D976756fc7de2%26View%3D92c80a49%2D79e1%2D402e%2D9183%2D4e78376a46c7%26CurrentPage%3D1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Best Management Practices for the Management of Waste from Land Clearing, Grubbing and Excavation</a> allow for up to a year to obtain the permit.</p><p>&#8220;We are still within that year time frame up to and including March of 2020. We expect to have our permit active before that year time frame expires,&#8221; Kane said.</p><p>Forty Fort Mayor Andy Tuzinski dismissed Kane&#8217;s comment as an apples to oranges comparison.</p><p>&#8220;The compost facility has been four years in the making and has been certified by DEP,&#8221; Tuzinski said. &#8220;We sought permits and did not do anything until we had permits in hand.&#8221;</p><p>The goal is to have compost available for the residents of Forty Fort, Tuzinski said.</p><p>Colleen Connolly, a spokeswoman for DEP&#8217;s Northeast Regional Office in Wilkes-Barre, said the department is looking into the Wyoming case. &#8220;The issue is fill being spread in a floodway and whether that presents any environmental issues,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The status of yet another report of a drainage issue caused by fill dumped in a floodway is unknown. It involves a swale or low-lying area near the borough&#8217;s ball fields off Colonial Drive that border Kane&#8217;s properties.</p><p>Former Wyoming Mayor Bob Boyer accused Kane of causing the problem.</p><p>&#8220;Mr. Boyer&#8217;s allegations have no merit and are baseless,&#8221; Kane said.</p><p>Nonetheless, Boyer said he contacted DEP, the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority and the state Auditor General&#8217;s office about the filled floodway. The Auditor General&#8217;s office was notified because the floodway affects a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project on nearby U.S. Route 11 or Wyoming Avenue, Boyer said.</p><p>In 2017, the last year Boyer was in office, the borough&#8217;s engineer was asked to review the drainage concerns on the swale.</p><p>Boyer provided the Times Leader a copy of the Oct. 16, 2017 letter from PennEastern Engineers LLC that said, &#8220;The existing swale has been adversely affected by the placement of fill material which in essence has severed the conveyance system. The lack of the conveyance of runoff can cause flooding, ponding and re-direction of stormwater.&#8221;</p><p>The engineer said it was necessary to put in place a new drainage system or reestablish the swale to convey the runoff. The cost was estimated at $30,000, the letter said.</p><p>&#8220;It was my understanding that we were proceeding to litigation on it when I left office,&#8221; Boyer said. The litigation dealt with trespass and damage to borough property, he said.</p><p>Boyer said he started asking about when he noticed that nothing had been done. &#8220;Why the borough wouldn&#8217;t do anything about it is very suspect,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Borough Street Commissioner Jim Tregan could have the answer. In an email Tregan said he has not been contacted by DEP or any other agency.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not aware of any drainage issues near the ball fields. I think the area you are questioning is owned by Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority not Wyoming Borough,&#8221; Tregan said.</p><p>But Andy Reilly, executive director of the Redevelopment Authority, had said he had not been contacted about the floodway.</p><p>An attempt to reach Wyoming Mayor Joseph Dominick was unsuccessful.</p><p>Still Boyer maintained determining who owns the property is not overriding issue. &#8220;The ownership is second to the violation. The borough would have a duty to enforce the zoning ordinances there,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A filled in floodway near the ball fields off Colonial Drive in Wyoming has been causing drainage issues and the ponding of water on the site.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Drainage-2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A filled in floodway near the ball fields off Colonial Drive in Wyoming has been causing drainage issues and the ponding of water on the site.  </caption0><photoCredit0>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Greenhouses-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Patrick Kane of Patrick Holdings LLC said he is in the process of complying with a zoning ordinance and obtaining a permit for two greenhouses built on his property in Wyoming.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Greenhouses-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Patrick Kane of Patrick Holdings LLC said he is in the process of complying with a zoning ordinance and obtaining a permit for two greenhouses built on his property in Wyoming.  </caption1><photoCredit1>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Construction-fill-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Luzerne County Planning and Zoning office issued a violation to Mesa Verde LLC of Wyoming for dumping fill in a designated floodway, but the property owner Patrick Kane said the case is not clear cut because flood maps of the area are ambiguous and create confusion. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Construction-fill-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>The Luzerne County Planning and Zoning office issued a violation to Mesa Verde LLC of Wyoming for dumping fill in a designated floodway, but the property owner Patrick Kane said the case is not clear cut because flood maps of the area are ambiguous and create confusion. </caption2><photoCredit2>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_tree-and-stump-debris-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Patrick Kane said the piles of debris containing tree limbs and branches on his property in Wyoming will be turned into mulch and he&#8217;ll meet the one-year time frame to obtain a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection to store and dispose of the on-site material.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_tree-and-stump-debris-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Patrick Kane said the piles of debris containing tree limbs and branches on his property in Wyoming will be turned into mulch and he&#8217;ll meet the one-year time frame to obtain a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection to store and dispose of the on-site material.  </caption3><photoCredit3>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Forty-Fort-compost-lot-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Before setting up its compost facility Forty Fort received permits from the state, said the borough&#8217;s Mayor Andy Tuzinski.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Forty-Fort-compost-lot-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Before setting up its compost facility Forty Fort received permits from the state, said the borough&#8217;s Mayor Andy Tuzinski.  </caption4><photoCredit4>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Zoning violations identified on Wyoming properties