Washington Twp. proposes wedding venue

A wedding venue is being proposed for Washington Township.

The township’s zoning hearing board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. May 15 regarding the proposal by David Lear, who will seek a use variance from a section of the zoning ordinance for a wedding venue in the rural village zoning district.

The property at 6122 Bottom Road, Slatington is a 10-plus-acre farmette containing a single-family dwelling, large barn and outbuildings.

Lear said in his zoning application that he and his family want to utilize the farm for a wedding venue facility, and that the proposed use would utilize the existing structures on the property.

The application states that the proposed facility would be used for weddings, birthday parties and class reunions.

Additional landscaping would be added throughout the property to accommodate spots for wedding photos, while a couple of the outbuildings would also be improved to become wedding party dressing rooms.

The application also says meals would be prepared off-site by a catering company and brought to the site to be distributed.

They would also intend to use some of the areas for entertaining, wedding ceremonies and yard games for the time between weddings and receptions.

The application says they would also be boarding some small animals on the property, such as a pony for birthday parties, in addition to some animals for a small petting area.

They would also have some animals typically found on a farmette, such as chickens, ducks and dogs.

There are no full-time employees working at the facility, as all events would be staffed during the event itself, and for some prep work before and after an event, the proposal says.

The number of outside employees would vary pending the type of event, but a small event would have between two to three servers, while larger events would have up to 10 servers.

The family anticipates the facility to be occupied for weekend events, but also be able to accommodate birthday parties, Boy Scout and Girl Scout meetings, church events and other activities during the week.