JENKINS TWP. — Residents turned up in full force to a public hearing at the municipal building on Wednesday to oppose rezoning a portion of mine scarred land in the Inkerman section of the township because the developers don’t yet know what they plan to use the property for.
It was standing room only in the audience as the Jenkins Township Board of Supervisors heard testimony from a handful of residents who voiced their concerns over rezoning a large, wooded area between Market and Main Street, from residential to industrial.
The property is owned by Forza Holdings LLC and was sold to the company in the spring of 2025 for $1 million, according to county property records.
Frank Nockley and Charles Latona, two partners in the company, were in attendance at the meeting. Both men live in Jenkins Township.
No decision on the rezoning was made at Wednesday’s meeting. The board plans to review everyone’s statements, and a vote will be held at an upcoming meeting.
According to board attorney Girard Mecadon, the board has 45 days to make a determination.
Attorney Samuel Falcone, representing Forza Holdings, stated that the developers want to reclaim the mined land, which has culm banks in excess of four stories high, and level it.
In order to make things “more consistent,” Falcone said his clients want to turn the portions of the property that are in a residential zone into an industrial zone.
The attorney said the developers plan to apply for Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) and Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) grants to help fund the reclaiming of the land.
“Our intention is to create a better environment back there,” Falcone.
However, Attorney Donald Karpowich, who represents a Jenkins Township resident, argued that the owners should have considered the zoning before they bought the property.
“They knew what the zoning district was when they purchased it,” he said.
He also took issue that the applicant did not specify in their application what they intend to use the land for. A detailed proposal for the land is required based on the township’s zoning ordinance.
“Don’t tell me what you’re gonna do or what you aren’t gonna do or you don’t know yet. We wanna see that. Why? So we can review the impacts this proposed use would have if you granted the changes on these people’s properties,” Karpowich said.
Things got heated when residents stepped up to the podium to speak. All of the speakers opposed the rezoning.
“If you guys decide to pass this industrial thing, what’s to stop them from building data centers?” asked Julia Struzzeri, who lives on Market Street.
In response, Falcone said the owners’ intention is to reclaim the land.
Latona then stepped up to the microphone, saying he “didn’t care for” the residents’ remarks.
“We really don’t know what we’re gonna do with [the land],” he said. “If you want to look at a culm bank the rest of your life, go and do it. I look at it every day, I get sick to my stomach.”
Another resident said it’s not fair that residents don’t know what the land will be used for and asked the board to either table the application or deny it until the developers can provide more information.
“Maybe we might want what they’re gonna put there. Maybe it’s gonna be good for us,” she said. “But we don’t know that.”