Appeal filed in rejection of South Strabane development
Developers of a mixed-use plan rejected Tuesday by South Strabane Township supervisors filed a land-use appeal Wednesday in Washington County Court, asking for a reversal of the decision and that the board of supervisors be forced to accept Tanger Boulevard as a public street.
Jeffrey G. Wilhelm, an attorney representing Racetrack Road Development and Mulach Steel Corp., stated in court documents that the board’s refusal to accept the road and the application, “which otherwise meets the code,” is “unreasonable … exceeds the authority granted to the board … impermissibly landlocks some or all of the development and results in a de-facto exclusionary zoning scheme.”
Supervisors approved a conditional-use application from Racetrack Road Development and Mulach Steel, which operates from the same address as Chapman Properties, for a light manufacturing plant and business office, but denied a master plan for the 158-acre property off of Racetrack Road, which the developer said was necessary to proceed with a proposed Ensinger Inc., manufacturing plant. Ensinger currently is headquartered in North Strabane Township.
Chapman maintains that a section of the private Tanger Boulevard would have to be transferred to the township in order to develop the property.
The appeal states that under the Pennsylvania Tax Increment Financing Act implemented by Tanger Outlets in 2005, the township was required to enter into a developer’s agreement that provided for the acceptance of the road as a public street, which they “refused to sign.”
Supervisors denied the application and master plan Sept. 13, citing the requirement that the township take over a 2,888-foot portion of Tanger Boulevard. Chapman came back to the township Oct. 11 with additional offers and asked the board to reconsider.
The offer included complete reimbursement of costs to maintain the road through the end of 2026; the cost to resurface the road after phase one is complete; $160,000 for the purchase of a truck with snow-plowing capabilities; and donation of a one-acre parcel to the Strabane Manor homeowners association for development of an outdoor recreation area.
While supervisors reversed their previous decision and approved the application for Ensinger, they upheld the rejection of the development master plan Tuesday. Supervisors Thomas Moore and Bob Weber, who voted to reject with Supervisor Edward Mazur, said they didn’t want to set a precedent by accepting the road as public.
A condition in the township’s ordinance states that no more than four parcels can be located on a private road. The master plan calls for subdivision of nine parcels.
“After the execution of the Tanger plan, if Tanger Boulevard remained a private development, no contiguous parcel, including the development, could be developed,” the appeal states. “The net effect of the decision is to compromise the development and to, in effect, eliminate the possibility of certain lawful uses in the township.”
Township solicitor Dennis Makel did not immediately return a phone call for comment.