Lititz Record Express

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TH E H E S S
SERVING THE WARWICK AREA FOR NEARLY A CENTURY
99th Year ESTABLISHED APRIL, 1877, AS THE SUNBEAM
(CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD 1937J Lititz, Lancaster County, PA 17543, Thursday, Jan. 15,1976 10 CEN1S A COPY; $4.00 PER YEAR BY MAH
WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 2 0 PAGES— No. 43
Z o n e r s W a n t
A p t . D r a w i n g s
F o r A p p r o v a l
by Bonnie Szymanski
Zonera questioned a
Lancaster developer for an
hour and a half Monday
night about his proposed
plans for an apartment unit
along Landis Valley Road to
the north and ended by
- deciding to continue the
hearing on February 2. At
that time they hope to be
presented with a more
detailed sketch of the
proposed building design.
Barry Hogan, speaking for
his father and associate,
John A. Hogan, had sub*
mitted a rough sketch of the
plans and explained that he
was applying to the board for
a variance to expand a non-conforming
use in an R-l
(single family dwellings)
d istrict. The developers
built a second apartment
building on a parcel of land
they purchased in 1957 when
it was still zoned for apart­ments.
The Hogans built one 12-
unit apartment building on
the land, but in 1972 all R-l
land was rezoned under an
amendatory change to
eliminate additional multi­family
dwellings. Since the
Hogan tract already con­tains
one apartment
building, they approached
the board hoping for an
extension*)! the existing non­conforming
use.
The board was less
reluctant to grant approval
oo the grounds that it did not
want to expand the non-conforming
use than it was
to approve for which they
were shown no tangible
design.
They asked Hogan for a
more detailed sketch plan of
the proposed building. Louis
J . Farina, the Hogans’ at­torney,
objected to the
request on the grounds that
such a sketch was not a
stipulation of the ordinance
under which they were
applying.
Said F a rin a , “ The or­dinance
does not put him on
notice to submit a detailed
sketch. . . We are asking for
approval of a concept within
the limits o f . . . R-A district
(zoned for apartments),”
“Before I engage a land­scape
architect to do a
detailed sketch, we would
like an OK for expansion,”
explained Hogan noting that
architectural sketches are
very expensive.
In This Issue
Business Directory 14
Church News 12
Classified Ads 16,17
Editorial Page 4
Sports Section 6,7
Women’s 8 ,9
Nevertheless, zoners were
adamant about wanting a
c le a re r idea of the
developers’ plans for the
land, and their hesitation
was strengthened by the
presence of about a half
dozen concerned property
owners whose lands adjoin
the Hogan tract.
Charles Edson, 224 Landis
Valley Road, questioned the
legality of the land being
expanded via a non-conforming
use because, as
he stated, he wasn’t sure the
land in question was really
one parcel of land a t all.
According to Hogan and
his attorney, the Hogan land
was purchased in an entire
package of about 50 acres.
Eventually a portion of the
land was condemned by the
Warwick School District tor
the construction of a school.
John Hogan received
payment for the condemned
land and later sold another
piece of the tract to the
borough for $1. Hie borough
used that piece of land to
erect a water tower.
The land left to Hogan,
although it resembles two
p a rce ls, is actually two
contiguous lots that join a t a
comer and, according to
Hogan’s attorney as well as
the borough solicitor, can be
considered one parcel of land
and therefore subject to
approval for expanded non-conforming
use.
Edson, seemingly un­convinced,
asked Hogan why
they had not objected to the
1972 amendment which
restricted R-l districts to
single family dwellings.
Hogan replied that it was the
opinion of their legal ad­visors
a t the time that their
“ status hadn’t changed.”
Charles and Ruth Wetzel,
owners of the property
forming the western
boundary of the Hogan land
complained that an apart­ment
complex would be
detrimental to the
surrounding residential
area.
Hogan replied that he did
not believe their apartment
building would be anything
but an aesthetic asset to the
area. He mentioned later
that they had been told their
other apartment building
was pleasing to the eye,
clean and an asset to the
community.
“We’re not slum lan­dlords,”
said Hogan, “we
intend to maintain (this
building) in the same
manner.”
He explained they were
thinking in terms of building
an eight-unit building or two
four-unit building^ with a
courtyard in between. He
said whatever they build, in
his opinion, it has to be more
aesthetically pleasing than
the sight of a water tank.
Bingeman Elected To
Chair Zoners in 76
Robert Bingeman was
elected chairman of the
Lititz Zoning Hearing Board
during the board’s first
meeting of the year Monday
evening. Bingeman replaces
Robert Derek, who served as
chairman last year.
Elected to the office of
vice-chairman was Devoe
Bear. David Anderson will
serve a s secretary again this
year.
Application Denied
Members of the board
heard a request by J . H.
Diffenbach to open a lawn
mower repair shop in his
two-car garage a t the rear of
his property on Maple Lane
in an R-2 (residential)
district.
Under the code pertaining
to this application, explained
zoners, only certain oc­cupations
— a professional
office, a studio or a
^customary home occupation
— are subject to approval.
They decided that Dif-fenbach’s
request would
come under the customary
home occupation descrip­tion.
Under this designation,
even though the request was
unopposed by neighboring
residents, zoners denied the
a p p l i c a t i o n b e c a u s e
customary home oc­cupations
must be conducted
within the principal building,
usually the dwelling, ac­cording
to zoning regulation.
Paes Says JP Office Will Not
Go Into Flanagan Bldg., Born Hall
Another property owner,
Rose Love, 206 Landis Valley
Road, complained that
drainage was already a
problem in their area, and it
was her concern that the
apartments would add to
that problem.
According to Hogan, their
parcel of land is flat, and
expressed he doubted that
the drainage problem was
coming from their property.
He added that even if
drainage were a problem, it
was one that “could be
handled easily.” •
C h a i rm a n R o b e r t
Bingeman noted there was
nothing to substantiate the
concern that the drainage
problem would get worse
with the addition of an
apartment building.
Bingeman, attempting to
bring the meeting to an
amiable close, told Hogan,
“I think you have han­dicapped
yourself . . . (by
not presenting a more
detailed drawing of the
proposed apartments).”
“A picture is worth a
thousand words,” he said.
“We have to be fair to both
parties. 1 think it could be
simpler than it’s turning out
to be.”
Board members requested
an informal sketch from
Hogan for the February 2
meeting and suggested that
he show in the drawing the
number of units, some
landscaping, a drainage
area, parking areas and any
other additions which would
give zoners a clear idea of
the kind of apartment
building proposed for the
site.
Police Arrest
Two Youths in
Bomb Threat
Lititz police apprehended
two young people allegedly
involved in a bomb threat at
Warwick High School the
afternoon of Jan. 6 and
referred them to juvenile
authorities. One was a 17-
year old Lititz boy and one a
14-year old Lititz area girl,
whose names police did not
give.
The two allegedly made
two phone calls to the high
school, one a t 1:56 p.m.,
stating that a bomb was set
to go off within 10 minutes,
and then another a few
minutes later saying the
bomb was in a locker and
would go off a t 2:30 p.m.
Police evacuated the
building and searched
lockers, but nothing was
found.
Chief George Hicks said
that on Friday one of several
suspects, the 17-year old,
was questioned and admitted
his part in the incident and
also told about the 14-year
old girl’s part in the incident.
Chief Hicks said that
contrary to what many of the
public believe the police
department has means of
tracing these bomb threats,
and that persons responsible
for recent ones in this area
have been apprehended.
By Peggy Fralley
F o rm e r county com­missioner
Paul Paes told the
Record Wednesday morning
that the J P office will not be
located “downtown,” either
in the Flanagan building or
the Boro Hall.
“ It looks like the situation
will be resolved to the
satisfaction of most of the
people in Lititz,” Paes said,
although he acknowledged
that the lease with Richard
and Pauline Flanagan,
owners of the property a t 9 S.
Broad St., had not been
broken yet.
He said that the people
“responsible tor creating the
furor” over the lease should
now try to find another
tenant for the building,
assuming the Flanagans are
willing to break the lease.
“And some people here in
Lititz have a moral
obligation to do some things,
too,” he said. He said these
were people he had not yet
talked to about the issue, but
Paes had indicated Tuesday
in a private interview with
the Record that some
borough officials had told
him they had no objections to
the J P office being put in the
Flanagan building, even
though they raised ob­jections
after the lease was
signed.
Paes said the main reason
the county has now decided
against the Flanagan
building (and Boro Hall) is
the lack of adequate parking.
“And,” he said, “we prefer
to get along with everyone in
town as well as possible.”
Paes told the Record
Tuesday afternoon that
he had been led to
believe by borough officials
that they had no objections to
the Flanagan building being
used as a JP office before he
signed a lease on the
property Dec. 31.
He said he and the other
Republican county com­missioner,
Ray Herr, had
discussed the matter with
several borough officials on
Dec. 10, and that they had
offered no objections to the
offices going into 9 S. Broad
St.P
aes also said that he had
made no secret of looking
into the Flanagan property,
that he had assigned court
administrator Ron Reedy to
get dimensions on the
building and that Reedy and
several contractors had been
in and out of the building
during December measuring
and drawing floor plans. He
said he had acted on Reedy’s
recommendation, with the
assurance that borough
officials had no objections.
Although he would not say
what steps the county is
taking to get the lease
broken, he said he is con­fident
that the lease will be
broken in the next week or
so.
Meanwhile the owner of
the property, Pauline
F lan agan , 412 Eshleman
Dr., Lititz, said Tuesday
night that she isn’t so sure
she wants to tear up the
lease.
“ I’d like to have it (the
lease),” she told the Record.
“But I’m getting a lot of
pressure from Ron Reedy to
break the lease.”
She said Reedy told her the
borough would never issue
her the necessary permits
for signs, etc. if she went
ahead with the lease,
although the assistant
borough manager, Curt
Amidon, told her two weeks
ago that she could pick up a
permit for interior
remodeling, she said.
Mrs. Flanagan said she
called the borough office two
weeks ago about a permit
and was told she could not
have one. Then, she said,
Amidon said he would “ call
her back in 15 minutes,”
which he did, she said, in­forming
her that she could
have the permit.
However, she has not yet
picked it up because of all
the controversy over the
lease, and because of the
pressure Reedy is putting on
her and her husband, she
said.
She said Tuesday, “I don’t
know what I’m going to do
yet.” She said she “might”
be making some decision in
the next day or so, and that
many people are calling her
to tell her to “hang onto the
lease.”
Borough officials have
been publicly noncommital
on the issue this week, in
spite of charges by the
county that they knew what
was happening right along.
Last week, in a meeting held
after the adjournment of an
official meeting Jan. 5, Boro
Council met with Reedy on
the matter and also directed
Boro Manager David An­derson
to write a letter of
protest to toe county com­missioners.
This letter ex­pressed
“disappointment”
that the county would a c t on
a lease without first con­sulting
Boro Council and also
said Council thought the
chosen location a poor one.
The Lititz Retailers Assn,
also sent a letter to the new
chairman of the county
commissioners, Jack Tracy,
stating that they objected to
this location for a JP office.
Mike Hess, a local
businessman, circulated
about 75 petitions in Lititz
last week protesting toe
location and delivered these
to the county com­missioners.
In a letter to the Record
this week, the Democratic
county commissioner, Jean
Mowery, the lone com­missioner
who did not sign
the lease, denied that she
knew anything about the
lease, or about developments
with the D&E Telephone
Company for a lease on their
building on Main Street, the
present location of the JP
office. Reedy had stated that
he had updated Com­missioner
Herr on this
situation in Mrs. Mowery’s
presence, but Mrs. Mowery
said, “That statement is
absolutely erroneous and I
categorically deny that I
knew anything about this
situation.”
She said she had been
involved in discussions
regarding many of toe leases
for other magistrates’ of­fices
and had strongly
resisted in one or two other
areas, “the kind of action
which apparently occurred
here (in Lititz).”
“I knew nothing what­soever
about it (the lease)
and I deplore the actions of
Commissioners P a e s and
Herr, in putting this lease
through in this devious and
underhanded manner on the
last day of the year. I was to
the office all day that day, so
that there would have been
ample opportunity to discuss
this situation had they
wished to. The fact is toe
first I heard about it was the
following week when Lititz
Borough residents began to
call this office, and 1 was
informed about It by Mr.
Tracy and others.”
Child Struck By Car On Water Street
S ix -y e a r -o ld Deborah
Buchter, 530 N. Water St.,
was struck by a c a r driven
by B a rb a ra F . Bower-master,
1118 Orchard Road,
on Friday, Jan. 9, as the
child ran into the path of the
Bowermaster c a r from
behind a parked ca r to the
500 block of N. Water Street.
According to Lititz police,
the child was struck by the
front bumper and was
thrown onto the hood of the
car.
Taken to the Lancaster
Osteopathic Hospital by the
W a rw ick am b u la n c e ,
Deborah was admitted and
treated tor a fractured leg.
She was reported in
satisfactory condition as of
Wednesday morning.
Assistant Chief Jim Fritz
investigated the accident
and made no prosecutions.
Hit-and-Run
Assistant Chief F ritz
tracked down a c a r that
reportedly had hit a legally
parked ca r, owned by Lydia
K. Watson, 225 N. Broad
Street, on E . Market Street
about 8 p.m. on Saturday,
Jan. 10.
The heavily damaged ca r
was discovered parked
several blocks away and
found to be owned by
Thomas A. Gaul, 1519
Brunnerville Road. Ac­cording
to police, Gaul had
hit the Watson ca r as he
attempted to turn onto E .
Market Street from N. Broad
St.G
aul was prosecuted for
failure to stop and report at
the scene of an accident.
Damage to the Gaul ca r
was estimated a t $300;
damage to toe Watson ca r
was estimated a t $275.
Hits Parked Car
On Jan. 11 at 7:18 p.m., a
c a r traveling west on E .
Mato St., driven by Anthony
B. Grove, 1034 Lititz Pike,
slid as the driver applied his
brakes for a yellow light and
ran into the rear of a legally
parked c a r owned by Rachel
J . Lutz, 103 E . Mato St.
Assistant Chief Fritz in­vestigated
toe accident and
reported no prosecutions.
Damage to the Grove car
was estimated at $500 and to
the Lutz car, at $200.
Icy Streets
A two-car collision oc­curred
a t North Water and
Front Streets Jan. 12 at 8:45
a.m. when a driver slid on an
icy street into the path of
another car.
Involved were John H.
Zittle, Box 28, Pequea, and
Nancy S. Michael, 229 N.
Cedar St.
Police said Zittle was
driving west on East Front
Street, approaching Water
Street, braked, and skidded
on ice into the path of the
Michael car. No injuries or
prosecutions resulted. Of­fice
r Wayne Shinton in­vestigated.
Driver Injured
A driver was injured, and
taken to a local doctor, after
a collision a t Lincoln Avenue
and North Broad Street on
Jan. 9 at 11:48 a.m.
Injured was Elizabeth
Bruckart, Lititz R2. Also
involved to toe accident was
J a y E . Diffenderfer,
Manheim R4.
Police said the Bruckart
woman was driving north on
Broad Street and failed to
stop a t a traffic light a t the
Lincoln Avenue intersection.
Diffenderfer, driving a
truck, entered the crossing
from West Lincoln, and hit
the B ru cka rt vehicle
broadside, pushing it against
the curb.
Damages were estimated
Haines Elected To Head ky Jan. Accidents
Chiefs’ Association Again In Warwick Twp.
Warwick Township Police
Chief Paul Haines was re­elected
president of the
Northern Lancaster County
Chiefs of Police Association
a t the organization’s
meeting of December 27.
This y e a r will mark Haines’
third term as president of the
organization.
School Board to Meet Tuesday
Revised school board
p o l i c i e s c o n c e r n i n g
professional employees and
the administrative staff,
sa la rie s for long-term
substitute te a ch e rs , and
some more problems with
the Lititz Elementary
renovation will be on War­wick
School Board’s agenda
Tuesday a t 7:30 p.m. a t the
high school.
The board will also be
getting a report to a drop to
state subsidy, amounting to
the equivalent of two mills of
taxes, due to a drop in the
s ta te aid ra tio for the
district. This is the second
largest drop to six years,
according to toe superin­tendent.
Formed in 1970, the
association consists of chiefs
and sergeants from 18
northern Lancaster County
police departments. I t was
originated a s an
organization to institute good
relations between the
departments.
Chief Haines said that
during their last meeting,
members decided to invite
police departments that
border the northern Lan­caster
County area, whether
from Lancaster, Lebanon or
Berks counties, to join their
association.
Police Chiefs belonging to
this association meet once a
month to exchange in­formation.
They also set up
schools for the officers to
their departments, said
Chief Haines.
Warwick Township police
have been busy since toe
beginning of the year in­vestigating
accidents caused
by January’s ice and snow.
On Jan. 1 at 2:35 a.m.,
along Route 501 a t Landis
Valley Road, a car, heading
south was abandoned on the
berm of the road as the
driver, David W. Dotterer,
2848 Southwick Drive,
Lancaster, left the ca r to the
snow.
A short time later, a ca r
driven north on Route 501 by
Walter H. Klopp, 22 Pine
Ave., Lebanon, stopped on
the highway to avoid other
cars on the hill. As he was
stopped, the Dotterer ca r
apparently slid or rolled
toward the Klopp c a r
striking it and causing $250
damage to each car.
Officer Ray Lausch in­vestigated
the accident and
reported no injuries and no
prosecutions.
Slides Into Pole
On the same day a t 10:55
a.m., a truck operated east
on Route 772 by E a rl K.
Martin, 720 E . Newport
Road, went out of control as
the driver hit a patch of slush
along the right edge of the
highway. The truck struck a
P.P.&L. pole causing $200
damage to the pole and $1800
damage to the truck.
Officer Donald Gregg
investigated the accident. No
prosecutions or injuries were
reported.
Snowmobile
At 5 a.m. on toe first day of
the new y e a r, a
snowmobiler, David F .
Auker, 117 Swarthmore
Drive, was driving across a
field behind Ariin Circle off
[Continued on Pegs 2]
at $400' to the Bruckart
vehicle and $150 to the truck.
The Bruckart woman was
charged with a traffic light
violation by Officer Leroy*
Emmerich.
Hftand-Run
Jeffry Lee Weit, 30 E .
Mato St., was charged with
failure to stop and identify
a fte r allegedly hitting a
parked car on North Broad
Street, near Rodney Lane,
Jan. 6 a t 9:55 a.m. The ca r
was owned by Helen K.
Spickler, 334 E . Mato St.
Police said a witness saw
Weit run into the rear of toe
Spickler car, back up, and
park to a nearby parking lot,
then depart on foot. Officer
Wayne Shinton investigated.
Damages were estimated at
$200 to the Weit vehicle and
$150 to the Spickler car.
Trucks Collide
Two trucks collided on
North Lane, near North Elm
Street, on Jan. 6 a t 2:05 p.m.
when one skidded on an icy
road.
Drivers were Donald R.
Hurst, Ephrata R2, driving a
truck owned by Good’s Auto
Service, Lititz, and Jonathan
D. Anderson, 144 Country
Club Dr., Lancaster, driving
a truck owned by Conestoga
Fuels Inc., Lancaster.
Police said Hurst was
heading east on North Lane
and Anderson was heading
north on North Elm and
turning left into North Lane.
Hurst braked on the icy road
and slid into the other truck.
No injuries or prosecutions
were reported. Damages
were estimated a t $550 to the
Goods truck and $150 to the
Conestoga truck. Officer
Emmerich investigated.
Traffic Arrests
Jan. 9 • Joseph R. Bom-berger,
Brubaker Valley
Road, lititz R2, speeding;
Franklin G. Moyer, Box 252,
Scheafferstown, speeding.
Ja n . 10 • Harvey B.
Helltoger, 622 Manor St.,
Lancaster, speeding.
Jan. 11 - Douglas Scott
Cochran, 125 Mayfield Dr.,
reckless driving; Henry M.
Little. HI, 941 Saigon Rd.,
McLean, Va., reckless
driving.