Murrysville residents and officials will have another month to consider the proposed business overlay district.

After a sometimes contentious council meeting last week where many residents spoke out against the proposal, officials voted 5-2 to delay a vote on the proposal until July 16. Council President Nancy Kacin and councilman Larry Nicolette voted against the delay. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the municipal building on Sardis Road.

Councilwoman Joan Kearns asked for the vote to be delayed after she raised several questions about the overlay district, which would set building standards and allow commercial development in some residential areas.

"The only good thing that I have found in this ordinance is the new performance standards, which can stand alone," Kearns said.

That sentiment was echoed by several residents who spoke out against the proposal.

Jerome Wolfe and nearly 700 other residents wanted to make sure those concerns were heard.

Wolfe presented a petition to council with 681 signatures. Under the municipal charter, a petition with 2 percent of the number of registered voters in the municipality is presented, officials must vote on the petition within 60 days. Murrysville has 14,921 voters, meaning Wolfe's petition has 382 signatures more than is needed for the issue to be considered.

The petition asks officials vote against the proposed ordinance.

Resident Lynn Full accu-sed the council members who appear to be in favor of the ordinance of being on a "power trip." She said she planned to show her dissatisfaction in the next municipal election.

"For the next election, I'm working for whoever runs against you," she said.

Former recreation director Michele Clarke said if some residents were upset with who was representing them, they had no one to blame but themselves.

"When you don't put your name in, you don't get who you want," she said.

While Clarke said she was unsure if the business overlay district was the best way to encourage commercial development, more business was needed in the community.

"I want to make sure that there's some logical way to bring commercial development that's going to last," she said.

Resident Rick Farabaugh was one of the more vocal opponents who addressed council.

"I'm sure that your mothers and fathers would not be proud," he said.

Farabaugh later said he would contact U.S. District Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan to ask her to investigate any possible corruption.

After repeatedly yelling at council from the audience, Kacin asked Murrysville police officer Christer Smith to remove Farabaugh from the building.

However, not everyone was against the proposal.

Resident Kevin Hickey said he was in favor of the ordinance because it would create more business in Murrysville.

"I prefer to spend my money in the local community," he said.

Kearns said she was concerned that streets close to major roadways like Route 22 that could be affected weren't fully defined and language in the ordinance needs to be clarified to ensure no loopholes exist. She also wondered if landowners could have their property removed from the overlay district.

Chris Rearick, director of community development, said that would be up to council to decide.

"A property owner can make a request at any point to have their property rezoned," he said.

Councilman Theo van de Venne said he was in favor of the ordinance because he believed it was consistent with the goals outlined in the municipality's comprehensive plan. He said he was not willing to turn against those goals for development.

"I'm not to scrap that document," he said.

Councilman Larry Nicolette said the ordinance was about determining the best use for properties in the municipality.

"I don't think I need another Target," he said. "But that's not my job to determine. My job is to determine what's the best use for the land."

Nicolette said he hoped to see more offices like Respironics move into the community rather than retail stores.

"I want a Westinghouse," he said.

What some residents said they wanted was to see the issue put up for a vote at the next election.

Solicitor George Kotjarapoglus said that would be unlikely because the election office wouldn't put a referendum on the ballot unless it was required by state law.

Councilman Regis Synan said that would be his preferred way of settling the issue but he wasn't sure how it could be done. Kearns encouraged the rest of council to read through the proposed ordinance again and develop questions for a final debate at the meeting on July 16.

At the same meeting, officials will consider the petition as well. Kotjarapoglus said he would review the petition and determine how it should be placed on the agenda.

No conflict, solicitor says

Murrysville Council President Nancy Kacin and Councilman Larry Nicolette will be able to vote on the proposed business overlay district.

Several residents questioned whether there was a conflict of interest because Kacin's husband is a local developer and Nicolette works for his company.

Solicitor George Kotjara-poglus said that wasn’t the case.

While Richard Kacin does own one fully-developed property in the overlay district, his property is subject to the same standards and requirements in the proposal as everyone else.

"If Richard Kacin owned 90 percent of all of the overlay parcels there may well be a conflict but that’s not our situation,” Kotjarapoglus said.

Kotjarapoglus also said that Kacin and other property owners in the overlay could suffer because of tougher standards that would be placed on developments.