Lyle Criscuolo likes to hold up his copy of the of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance and use that single point to justify the twice "unanimous" approval of Doug Longenecker's Application for Special Use.
We have established that the first "unanimous" approval was invalid.
Strike one.
The second "unanimous" approval was overturned by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Strike two.
Now, Mr. Longenecker is going for either strike three or a home run.
Mr Criscuolo has cited this point, "The special exception use will comply with the standards and purposes set forth in the Township Master Plan."
Since we have established that Mr. Criscuolo is a pastor, and presumably a student of the Bible, and I am a Christian and as such, I should also be a student of the Bible, (which I am), one of the very first and most important things I learned in Bible Study is context is key. Meaning, you cannot pull a Bible verse out of context and use it as a stand alone verse to support a doctrine. As a pastor, I'm sure Mr. Criscuolo is well aware of this. (A proof text out of context is a pretext.)
I personally try to apply Bible study to my every day life, and so when I look at a document or a set of documents, especially legal documents or ordinances, I try to look at the full counsel of the section I am looking at, and not a single point of the law.
As Mr. Criscuolo himself has said, "...you can't read part of a verse from the Bible any more than you can read part of a paragraph here when you're talking about the ordinance." So he knows this to be true, and yet he ignores the points of the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance that do not fit into his agenda.
Make no mistake, Mr. Criscuolo's agenda is to approve Mr. Longenecker's new request for special use, and he will use his influence over the members of the Planning Commission to twist the Zoning Ordinance to to make Mr. Longenecker's dressed up old pig with new lipstick "comply" to the Hayes Township Zoning Ordinance, while ignoring the points of the Ordinance where it clearly does not comply.
Getting back to point c. Mr. Criscuolo and the Planning Commission will decree that Mr. Longenecker's special exemption use "will comply with the standards and purposes that have been set forth by the Hayes Township Master Plan." As though making this decree makes it so. He may as well say that it does comply. That does not make it any more true.
I have already picked apart the Hayes Township Master Plan and Mr. Longenecker's compliance with it, in a 7 part series: 22 Sep 2010, 23 Sep 2010, 6 Oct 2010, 7 Oct 2010, 15 Oct 2010, 17 Oct 2010, and 23 Oct 2010.
My question is this, Mr. Criscuolo: How does the Special Use, both the new one and the old one stack up to the entire Hayes Township Master Plan, and not just the points that help you make it comply? (No verses out of context, please.)
If this is how you handle the law which you are in charge of implementing and upholding, it makes me wonder how you handle other matters of import that are written down, chapter and verse.
Don't forget about points a, b, d and e as well.
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