Public Hearing Set for Monday on 628 Perry Highway Rezoning Request

A date for a public hearing on a developer's request to rezone property at the corner of Perry Highway and Rochester Road has been set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, according to signs posted in the neighborhood.

The hearing will be during the Ross Township Board of Commissioners meeting at the at 1000 Ross Municipal Drive.

Orion Development, a real estate development and construction company based in Weirton, WV, has asked the Ross Township Board of Commissioners to consider its request to change the zoning classification for the 1.78-acre corner lot at 628 Perry Highway and 10 Rochester Road. The company wants the township to rezone the property from an R-1 residential district to a C-3 commercial district, the most restrictive commercial option.

The lot has been abandoned for at least three years, according to the company's application filed May 5 with the Ross Township Planning Department.

Ken Hrabar, a principal of the firm, has declined to say what the plans are for the property if the rezoning request is approved. He told the Board of Commissioners at a meeting in May that the use would be for a single retail tenant and that it would be “clean, highly convenient and low-impact."

Orion Development specializes in building box store pharmacies, according to its website.

The nine-member planning board voted, 3-4, against the rezoning request after nearby neighbors turned out at its public hearing earlier this year.