Tarentum hires firm to update zoning ordinance, map

Tarentum could pay nearly $35,000 to update its zoning ordinance and map.

The review comes as a billboard company arguing to place a sign at the Tarentum Bridge has pointed to errors and omissions in the borough’s zoning ordinance, which the company said unlawfully excludes billboards from any location in the borough.

Borough Manager Michael Nestico said the decision to update the borough’s zoning didn’t stem from the legal case with Oliver Outdoor, but “that case certainly highlights some of the difficulties in navigating our existing ordinance.”

“The rewrite has been a priority item for some time,” Nestico said. “We discussed this earlier in 2019, but ultimately wanted to wait until we got closer to 2020 for budgetary reasons. We recognized that there were issues with the existing version.”

Borough Council approved paying Pittsburgh-based Environmental Planning and Design up to $34,870 to complete a comprehensive zoning ordinance and map update.

The agreement is a professional service that is exempt from bidding requirements, Nestico said. He said the borough did not seek out much feedback from other firms, but made a few inquiries.

“The firm we hired has a great reputation and is extremely qualified,” he said. “We were hopeful that they would be able to assist us and we were comfortable with the cost and their overall proposal.”

The work is expected to take nine months to a year to complete, Nestico said.

Meanwhile, the fight over Oliver Outdoor’s billboard at the bridge is heading back to the borough’s Zoning Hearing Board. After hearing arguments in November, Allegheny County Judge Joseph James sent the case back to the board to determine if the zoning ordinance effectively excludes billboards.

The Zoning Hearing Board has not yet scheduled a hearing, Nestico said.