May 5, 2015 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – Plans to construct a four-unit apartment building for people with disabilities in Jefferson Borough were given final approval Monday night by Greene County Planning Commission.

Accessible Dreams, a non-profit developer of homes that are accessible to people with disabilities, plans to construct the building on Route 188 on property originally purchased and prepared for development by Greene County Redevelopment Authority.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the project is scheduled for May 12, Karen DuVall, housing services coordinator for Accessible Dreams, said Tuesday. Construction will begin shortly thereafter, she said.

The building project was developed through a partnership between the redevelopment authority and Accessible Dreams. Properties for the building were initially purchased by the authority under a program to reduce blight and create affordable housing. The program is funded by a Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund grant and contributions from the county and participating municipalities.

The authority demolished the two houses on the site and then sold the land for $1 to Accessible Dreams. Accessible Dreams works to provide housing for people with disabilities. It modifies existing homes or constructs new “barrier-free” homes in any community where a person would like to live, Duvall said.

“We try not to limit a person” to a specific location, DuVall said. The group tries to find a house to modify or a place to build a new home in any community in which a person wants to live, she said.

The driveway to the apartment building will be on Mulberry Alley. The first floor will be handicapped accessible while the second floor will be accessed by stairs for able-bodied tenants. The stairs will be built, however, to support a chair lift in the event upstairs tenants eventually need assistance.

In other business, the commission granted preliminary approval to plans by Royal Flush Development, a trucking company serving the natural gas industry, to construct a 10,800-square-foot building at the Paisley Industrial Park in Cumberland Township. The building will be constructed on 4.8 acres owned by Bravo Charlie LLC. About 60 trucks and 150 employees could eventually be based at the site.

The commission also granted preliminary approval to plans by Shaft Driller International to construct a 9,600 square foot building on property on the Kirby-Garards Fort Road near Mt. Morris. The building will be used as a maintenance and storage area for Shaft Drillers’ operations and equipment.