Jul 28, 2017 2 min read

The North Strabane Township Board of Supervisors Tuesday gave conditional-use approval for the development of a 228-unit mobile home park.

North Strabane Properties of Bridgeville submitted a conditional-use application for Hidden Acres, a mobile home park on 182 acres off Baltimore Avenue in an A-1 agricultural district. Mobile home parks are a permitted use in that district.

Supervisors approved the application for the mobile home park, with 35 conditions.

Township manager Frank Siffrinn said the township will require the mobile home park to be developed in six phases, and will call for multiple access roads.

Phases I and II will require an access point through Francis Street, the entrance to the mobile home park, and over CSX Transportation’s railroad crossing.

It is estimated improvements to the railroad crossing will cost at least $500,000, Siffrinn said.

The developer must secure approval from CSX and the Public Utility Commission to make improvements to the railroad crossing related to the development, Siffrinn said.

Phases III through VI will require the construction of two additional access points off Christy Road, with the entrances being at least 700 feet apart.

The developer must construct cul-de-sacs for fire and emergency vehicle access until Christy Road and Francis Street are connected with roads through the development.

The proposed mobile home park has met resistance from a group of residents called “Friends of Christy Road,” who oppose the development because of concerns about traffic, safety and the widths of Christy Road and Francis Street.

The units in the development would be double-wide mobile homes with two paved parking spaces for each.

In another matter, supervisors approved an amendment to a proposed zoning ordinance that will permit age-restricted planned communities as conditional uses in R-2 and R-3 districts.

The ordinance originally would have permitted age-restricted planned communities to be built in areas zoned A-1 agricultural districts. Traditions of America, which sells custom homes for 55-and-older adults, made a presentation Tuesday for construction of an age-restricted planned community on an approximately 200-acre tract between Chubbic and Mansfield roads.

Siffrinn said Traditions of America has reached a tentative sale agreement with the property owners and will proceed with the development once the township settles on appropriate zoning regulations for age-restricted planned communities.

“This is really our first exposure to the entire concept of age-restricted communities,” said Siffrinn.