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July 9, 2008

Proposal for new hotel is altered

By Nancy Lowry

Safety concerns raised yesterday prompted developers to redesign a $5 million hotel project proposed for Pulaski Township.

Tom and Adam Guiher of Firebrand Enterprise, and their engineer, Ross Taylor, presented the hotel plan to the supervisors. They said they had anticipated requesting a height variance because the roof of the three-story, 72-room building planned for the intersection of Route 422 and Pine Glen Road would exceed the township�s building ordinance by about six feet. The ordinance limits building height to 30 feet.

However, Guy Morse, chief of the Pulaski Township Volunteer Fire Department, raised concerns, saying the department does not have the equipment for a third-floor evacuation.

�Three stories is pretty high to send a ladder up,� he said.

Asked about neighboring departments, Morse said Neshannock, Union and New Castle have higher ladders, �but then you have to consider response time.�

After the meeting, Morse noted that as a junior firefighter he assisted at the Holiday Inn fire in Union Township in 1977.

�I remember them bringing the bodies out. I don�t ever want to see a situation like that again.�

Supervisor Tom Gates, a former volunteer firefighter, said after the meeting he too was concerned about a three-story building.

�There are no water hydrants or lines out there,� he noted. �If there is a fire, the firemen will have to bring everything including the water.�

Taylor said the building will have a sprinkler system. He also said a flat or mansard roof would reduce the height to about 30 feet and no special exception would be needed. Morse said two stories is as high as his department can go.

Not pleased with the idea of a flat roof or reducing the number of rooms, Tom Guiher, his son Adam and Taylor caucused briefly then reconfigured the hotel plan.

The new look includes 72 rooms over two stories. But it would cover more ground than allowed by township ordinance. The developers would be required to go to the zoning commission for a variance. Under the ordinance, no more than 40 percent of a lot can be covered by impervious material. This includes buildings, the parking areas, sidewalks, the swimming pool and a house on the site where the hotel manager will live.

Taylor urged the supervisors to reconsider the ordinance, which he called restrictive. Other municipalities, he said, limit lot coverage to 35 percent but do not include sidewalks or parking areas � only buildings.

The supervisors � Gates, David DeJohn and chairman Sam Varano � granted conditional approval for the hotel, providing the developers go to the zoning board to obtain a variance for lot coverage and that a fast-growing arborvitae evergreen barrier be planted before the hotel opens.

The Guihers also requested the zoning board to grant a variance on the issue of ground cover exceeding what is allowed in the ordinance.

The township zoning board meets only when required. Meetings must be advertised, and one could be scheduled in about three weeks.

The Guihers, who own and operate Living Treasurers Animal Park on Route 422, also own and operate Log Cabin Motel and Suites in Donegal near Seven Springs Resort. Tom Guiher said he expects the hotel will do business as part of the Best Western hotel chain.

He also noted all access to the hotel will be from Pine Glen Road.

Several members of the public questioned if adequate police and fire protection would be available and if the township�s sewer lines and if the development would overwhelm the township�s sewage treatment plant in Pulaski.

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