Mar. 26--Fayette County commissioners will consider on Thursday the adoption of a 3 percent hotel tax, a rezoning request involving a controversial church and a $2.2 million Brownsville redevelopment plan.

Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Vincent Vicites voted in February to enact the 3 percent levy on hotel rooms, which is expected to generate $750,000 annually. Commissioner Angela Zimmerlink opposes the measure.

The board now has to set a date for implementation of the tax.

Details of how the funds are to be disbursed have not been decided, but Zapotosky and Vicites have talked about giving 50 percent of hotel tax revenues to Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau to market tourism, placing 25 percent into a fund for grants for nonprofit tourism groups and giving 25 percent to Penn State Fayette during a five-year period for a hospitality curriculum.

Zimmerlink has circulated an alternative proposal that includes development of an independent tourism marketing agency.

The rezoning request is for a 158-parcel of land in Bullskin owned by William D. Pritts, operator of the controversial Church of Universal Love and Music.

The church has generated complaints from neighbors for its live music events -- including amplified rock concerts. It is the basis of a federal civil rights lawsuit Pritts has pending against the county.

Pritts wants the land to be rezoned from agricultural to general business so it can be used as a place of worship.

The Fayette County Planning Commission in January recommended that commissioners approve the rezoning.

The $2.2 million Brownsville redevelopment plan calls for the county redevelopment authority to acquire 30 mostly vacant downtown properties, then prepare them to be marketed to developers.

Ernest Liggett of Monroeville owns 22 of the properties and does not want them to be acquired through eminent domain. He has objected to the proposal on the grounds it contains various legal flaws.

Liggett last week gave commissioners a 107-page document that includes his redevelopment plans for the area.

Andrew French, director of the redevelopment authority, said the authority's solicitor reviewed the authority's proposal and found "no serious irregularities."

Commissioners will meet 9 a.m. Thursday in the Public Safety Building, 22 E. Main St., Uniontown.

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