Politics & Government

Lawyer: Ordinance Amendment Benefits Quick Chek

Butler council plans to clarify ordinance for use in highway commercial zones.

The unanimously voted to clarify Tuesday its ordinance pertaining to allowing conditional use of limited service stations with convenience stores in the borough's Highway Commercial 1 (HC1) and 2 zones.

While Borough Attorney Robert Oostdyk said the change was a mere clarification and one that should have been applied to the ordinance years ago, David Dixon, the attorney who has been making a case against the borough allowing a to be constructed on the corner of Boonton Avenue and Route 23, argued that the council would be changing the ordinance to meet the needs of a specific Butler Land Use Board applicant.

Representatives of  and those who oppose its planned construction have been attending land use board meetings since February, disputing whether the borough should allow Quick Chek to build a gas station and convenience store at the proposed site. If approved, the new Quick Chek would be across the street from

Find out what's happening in Tri-Borowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Because of the way the body of the ordinance was written, which Oostdyk said was unintentional, applicants would be permitted to build a gas station or convenience store in an HC2 zone, but not together. Oostdyk said when the conditional uses in the HC1 and HC2 zones were decided, the option for limited use service stations with convenience stores was checked off but not written in the body of the ordinance, making it unclear.

The council's clarification was made after a recommendation to do so was passed down by the land use board.

Find out what's happening in Tri-Borowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The ordinance, in our opinion, is disingenuous," Dixon said to the council Tuesday, telling the council that the clarification could be considered spot zoning, in his opinion.

Peter McArthur, the lawyer representing Quick Chek, argued that the clarification is not spot zoning.

"Spot zoning is when an ordinance is passed for the benefit of one property owner," he said. "The clarification applies to each property owner in the HC2 zone."

Dixon further said that allowing this type of use in the HC1 and HC2 zones goes against the borough's master plan, specifically regarding the establishment and retention of two separate highway commercial zones. But McArthur referenced the borough's master plan and argued that the zones are intended to encourage multi-use and multi-story development and that a goal of the plan and borough is to have an appropriate mix of land uses in the zones.

Councilman Bob Fox agreed with Oostdyk and said that in 2003, the borough intended to clarify the allowance of limited service stations with convenience stores in the master plan. Oostdyk said the clarification not being made then was an oversight.

Mayor Bob Alviene indicated he felt confident in the recommendation by the land use board and borough attorney.

"We have to have some trust in our boards," he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here