Residents oppose development
With a denial of a planned senior living community behind them, North Strabane Township residents now face a proposed mobile home park.
Developers are working on Hidden Acres, a 182-acre plan with 228 mobile home units, at the same site, which abuts Christy Road in an A-1 agricultural zoned district.
“The (development) would be extremely difficult for the township to deny, unless there are deficiencies,” said Frank Siffrinn, township manager.
Mobile home parks are permitted in A-1 districts.
Attorney Thomas McDermott, who represented “Friends of Christy Road,” a group of about 200 residents, during a conditional use application public hearing Tuesday at the municipal building, said his clients are concerned about traffic, a railroad crossing near the property and the width of Christy and Francis Street, which would provide access to the development.
The planning commission recommended application approval at its Feb. 20 meeting, with conditions including the requirement that residents be 55 and older.
“I don’t think we could make that stick,” said township solicitor Gary Sweat.
Although the board is required to make a decision within 45 days, both parties agreed to leave the record open for 30 days to work toward an agreement.
“We could possibly come to some kind of consensus,” McDermott said.
North Strabane Properties would continue to own the property, located near Route 519 if the development moves forward. The units would be double-wide mobile homes with two paved parking spaces for each.
Mike Wetzel, of designer Victor-Wetzel Associates, said the plan would be done in six phases.
Little Chartiers Creek and two on-site ponds would provide fishing opportunities for residents, he said. The plan calls for 121 acres of undeveloped space. Utilities would include public water and sewage.
“We are not asking for any modifications,” Wetzel said. “This meets township ordinances.”
In May 2016, Friends of Christy Road turned out for a board of supervisors meeting to oppose a proposed text amendment that would clear the way for age-restricted planned communities as conditional uses in A-1 districts and R-2 suburban residential zoning districts in an effort to halt a 55-and-older planned community with about 180 detached units.
Input from residents swayed the supervisors’ votes as they denied the amendment and the Traditions of America proposal was off the table.