Nicholson Township Comprehensive Plan
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Nicholson Township Comprehensive Plan Soirrce: [Internet Webpnge]. hitp://1~~~~v.Zfe.p~u.ehr/-c~p3/ ADQPTED July 6, 2000 Prepared by: Ma c kin Eizgiii cering Company I I I A CKNO WLEDGMENTS I This project was funded entirely through a Small Community Planning Assistance Program (SCPAP) Grant from the Pennsylvania Department of I Community and Economic Development (DCED). I This report was prepared by: I Mackin Engineering Company I With assistance from the Nicholson Township Supervisors: John Black, Chairman I Charles McClain, Secretary Gerald Porupski I And former Supervisor 1 Ronald Diamond I I I I I I I I I li TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 SECTIONI I HISTORICALPERSPECTIVE 3 I ENVIRONMENTAND PHYSIOGRAPHY 5 1 POPULATIONAND DEMOGRAPHICS 7 I HOUSING 14 I ECONOMICCHARACTERISTICS 17 I EXISTINGLAND USE 22 I TRANSPORTATION 26 1 COMMUNITYFACILITIES AND SERVICES 28 I SECTION2 GOALSAND OBJECTIVESPRIORITZATION 32 I SECTION3 1 PLANELEMENTS 42 1 SECTION4 I INTERRELATIONSHIPSTATEMENT 65 I SECTION5 CONTIGUOUSMUNICIPALITIES STATEMENT 66 I 1 1 SECTION 6 RESOLUTION 67 LISTOFTABLES Table 1 Nicholson Township Historic Structures 4 Table 2 Nicholson Township Soil Associations 5 Table 3 Nicholson Township Population Change 1950 - 1990 7 Table 4 Population Change 1960 - 1990 8 Table 5 Age Distribution 1990 11 Table 6 1990 Percent of Owner and renter Occupied Housing 15 Table 7 1990 Median Housing Value and Median Rent 15 Table 8 1990 Percent of Persons 16 Years of Age and Older Employed in Professions 20 Table 9 1990 Percent of Population Age 19 - 64 that are Unemployed 21 Table 10 Unemployment Rates for March 2000 21 Table 11 Existing Land Use in Nicholson Township 23 Table 12 Zoning Districts and Permitted Uses 24 LISTOF CHARTS Chart 1 Population Change 1950 - 1990 7 Chart 2 Population Trends 1950 - 1990 8 Chart 3 1990 Population 9 Chart 4 Population Per Square Mile 1990 9 Chart 5 Percent of Population by Race 1990 10 Chart 6 Percent of Persons by Age 1990 11 Chart 7 Nicholson Township Educational Attainment Persons Age 25 and Older 1990 12 Chart 8 Educational Attainment Persons Age 25 and Older 1990 13 Chart 9 Percent of Vacant or Unoccupied Housing Units 14 Chart 10 1990 Median Housing Age, in Years 16 Chart 11 Percent of Persons Living Below the Poverty Level, 1990 18 Chart 12 1990 Median Household Income 19 Chart 13 1990 Percentage of Nicholson Township Employed I Population with Commute Times 20 APPENDICES I STRENGTHSAND WEAKNESSES I DANGEROUSBUILDING ORDINANCE I TCESOURCE LIST I 2 The formation of Nicholson Township, which was created fiom portions of Springhill Township and German Township, was not an easy process. The idea was first proposed in September of 1841; however, due to objections presented to the court (December 11, 1841), the motion was rendered void. A few years later, the idea of creating a separate township out of German and Springhill Townships was renewed and this time was successful. In June of 1845, the court appointed James Paull, James H. Patterson and Jacob Murphy as commissioners. On December 19, 1845, Nicholson, which was named after a prominent resident of New Geneva, James Witter Nicholson, was chartered as a township. Perhaps the most famous and influential resident of Nicholson Township was Albert Gallatin. Mr. Gallatin founded the village of New Geneva, which was named after his home of Geneva, Switzerland. New Geneva was a place where European immigrants could live and experience the same customs as they had in their homeland. Albert Gallatin’s contributions went much further than the founding of New Geneva. Gallatin also contributed globally as a scholar, politician, entrepreneur, diplomat, and financier. By 1800, Gallatin and his partners had a general store, gristmill, saw mill, gun factory, and glassworks operating along Georges Creek. Mr. Gallatin’s responsibilities as a diplomat often took him to Washington, D.C., New York, France, and England. While away, his brother-in-law, James Witter Nicholson, ran the businesses. However, business suffered with Gallatin out of town, and his family felt alienated living in the Monongahela frontier, so they relocated to New York where Gallatin became a prominent banker. Nicholson Township, like Fayette County, had its beginnings influenced by coal mining and coke production. The remnants of these once booming industries can still be found throughout the municipality. Coal mining began in the 1760s and expanded steadily until the 1860s, coinciding with the beginning of steel manufacturing. One of the advantages to mining in this part of the commonwealth was the Pittsburgh seam of bituminous coal, which was very high in quality. This helped Fayette and Westmoreland Counties to become the top two coal producing counties in western Pennsylvania. In the 1840s it was determined that the Pittsburgh seam of bituminous coal was very good for coking. Heating bituminous coal without air creates Coke, a hard, gray, porous fuel with high carbon content. This was an important discovery because up to this point charcoal had been used for smelting iron. Unfortunately, charcoal required a tremendous amount of wood and as local supplies of wood dwindled, the cost skyrocketed. In the 1860s, the emergence of beehive coke ovens, bank ovens, and rectangular ovens were built along the hills, valleys and riverbanks. As the steel manufacturing industry developed, the demand for coke grew exponentially, as did the importance of coal mining and coke production in Fayette and Westmoreland Counties. In the late 1890s, early 1900’s Griffin No. 1 and No. 2 Coke Works were established along Cats Run just outside of the southeast boundary of Masontown Borough. Griffin No. 1 coal mine and coke works had one battery of double-block rectangular coke ovens. When in full production, 3 10 ovens were in operation. These coke 3 1 I ovens, along with those at the Alison No. 1 site, are the best-preserved rectangular ovens in Fayette County. This site was built by the Bessemer Coke Company and placed in operation between 1899 and 1903. At its maximum, the plant had 310 employees, 160 of which were 1 involved in coke production. On average 150,142 tons of coke were produced at this site per year. In 1921 the Hillman Coal and Coke Company purchased the plant. I The Griffin No. 2 site is very similar to No. 1. When in full production, approximately 196 ovens were in operation. This plant was also built and operated by the Bessemer Coke Company, and was built between 1899 and 1903. The Griffin No. 2 plant had 181 employees, 80 'I of which were involved with coke production. Approximately 72,043 tons of coke were I produced each year. There are a number of sites in Nicholson Township that are considered historic sitedstructures by the Bureau for Historic Preservation. The following table lists the site/structure and the map ID I number. These sites are treasures from the past that should be restored and preserved for future generations. I I -LR579 Bridge 1 New Geneva Petroglyph Site 36FA37 2 Harmony House 3 I Front Street New Geneva 4 PA Route 166 at New Geneva 5 I Deffenbach Residence 6 8 See Figure 2 for site locations. 1 I 1 I I I I 4 I I I Nicholson Township is located in the Appalachian Plateau Province. A province is defined as a region in which all parts are similar in geologic structure, climate, relief, and has a unified I geomorphic history. The Appalachian province is a northeast-southwest tending highland that occupies large parts of Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, eastern Ohio and small parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. This highland is underlain by nearly horizontal sedimentary I rock beds of the Paleozoic age. In western Pennsylvania, typical summit elevations range from 1,800 to 2,000 feet above sea level. In some regions, the surface of the plateaus have been I deeply eroded by streams to produce mountainous areas. Bedrock The rock underlying Nicholson Township was formed in the Pennsylvanian Period of the I Paleozoic Era, 360 million years ago. There are two specific rock groups that comprise Nicholson Township: I 1) Monongahela Group - Cyclic sequences of limestone, shale, sandstone, and coal; I commercial coals present; base is at bottom of Pittsburgh Coal. 2) Casselman Formation - Cyclic sequences of shale, siltstone, sandstone, redbeds, thin, impure limestone, and nonpersistent coal; red beds are associated with landslides; base is I at top of Ames limestone. Soil Characteristics I Soil is produced through the interaction of five natural forces. They are climate, plant and animal life, parent material, relief, and time. The degree and influence of each of these factors differs from place to place and influences characteristics of the soil. Nicholson Township has I soil landscape variations which have occurred as a result of relief, slope and drainage qualities. I The following chart describes the soil associations found in Nicholson Township. Soil Associations Characteristics Monongahela-Philo- Atkins Deep moderately drained and poorly drained, medium I textured, nearly level to sloping soils on stream terraces and floodplains Guernsey-Westmoreland-Clarksburg Deep, well-drained to somewhat poorly drained, medium I textured and moderately fine textured, nearly level to moderately steep soils influenced by limestone strata in the bedrock; on uplands I Gilpin- Wharton-Ernest Moderately deep and deep, well-drained and moderately well drained, medium textured, nearly level to very steep soils underlain by acid shale and some sandstone bedrock; I on uplands. I I 5 The following attributes, which are associated with the soil types, will provide a basis for future land use recommendations. Monongahela-Pltilo-Atkins association is formed primarily from alluvial deposits. This is a common association which provides several prime agricultural regions.