Business & Tech

UPDATED: MarkWest Still Hopeful For 'Amiable' Resolution

Associate counsel Chris Rimkus said Friday that an appeal of the Cecil Township zoning board's denial of its special exception to install a compressor station is to 'preserve our rights.'

MarkWest on Thursday filed an appeal regarding Cecil Township zoning board's denial of its special request to install a compressor station for Marcellus Shale gas near Coleman Road—but a spokesman said the company was still hopeful an "amiable" resolution could be reached.

"We (appealed) to preserve our rights," associate counsel Chris Rimkus said Friday morning. "If we can work out a solution that works for us and works for the township, that would be the best option."

In the 12-page appeal, MarkWest asserts it "did everything we one would expect of a committed corporate citizen operating in the township before proceeding with its proposed facility."

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It goes on to state:

"After the hearings, in a confused and unsupported decision, the board denied MarkWest's application, even though most of the board's findings and certainly MarkWest's evidence demonstrate that MarkWest met the (Unified Development Ordinance) and there is no substantial evidence in the record submitted by any opposing parties demonstrating that they met their burden of proving that the proposed facility would have a detrimental effect on the public health, safety and welfare."

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The appeal also accuses the zoning board of overstepping its authority.

"In denying special exception approval, the board abused its discretion, committed errors in law, violated MarkWest's constitutional rights, rendered a decision that lacks substantive evidence, and capriciously disregarded evidence."

Cecil Towship solicitor John Smith during a public hearing on another matter Thursday night.

Reached Friday, he said the zoning board will be the body responding to the appeal and that supervisors will decide how the township will respond at their next meeting.

Smith said the process could take anywhere from six months to more than a year if the appeal proceeds—and said it could potentially cost the township thousands of dollars.


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