2017 Zoning Ordinance Rewrite

SUMMARY OF 2017 ZONING ORDINANCE RE-WRITE
The 2012 Mini-Comprehensive Plan determined that the Borough's Zoning Ordinance was outdated and incompatible with the borough's existing social and economic conditions.  The plan recommended rewriting the zoning ordinance to provide for a compatible and complimentary mixture of land uses, development patterns, and building designs, while respecting and enhancing the community’s established neighborhoods and other developed areas, and natural resources.   

In 2016, with funding assistance provided through an Early Intervention Program Grant administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Borough hired the Urban Research and Development Corporation to rewrite the zoning ordinance and redraw the zoning map.  A year-long project commenced that included several public meetings with a goal to create a zoning ordinance which carried out the following major community development objectives:
  • to serve the goals and objectives of the “Myerstown Mini-Comprehensive Plan,” and the goals of the Lebanon County Comprehensive Plan;
  • to conserve environmentally sensitive lands;
  • to promote traditional styles of development and strong neighborhoods;
  • to provide compatibility between various types of and uses, and encourage compatible mixes of uses;
  • to provide for a variety of residential densities and housing types;
  • to direct industrial development and intensive commercial development to locations that will minimize conflicts with homes;
  • to promote new business development in appropriate areas that will provide additional tax revenue and job opportunities; and
  • to promote pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly patterns of development. 
The project was completed in May of 2017 when Borough Council adopted the ordinance in accordance with the requirements and purposes of the MPC.