PENNSYLVANIA SITE FIGHT: ADDRESSING THE REZONING ISSUE

Jefferson Hills Council to address rezoning issue [Pittsburgh (Pa.) Tribune-Review]

Jefferson Hills Council could decide next month whether to rezone 59 acres that could become the site of a Wal-Mart or another big-box store.

Council President Brian Militzer said members will discuss the issue at a special meeting 7 p.m. Aug. 8, before the regularly scheduled agenda meeting. The planning commission wanted more time to review documents, he said.

“This gives them more time to make a decision,” Militzer said.

Planners are expected to discuss the rezoning at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the borough building, 925 Old Clairton Road.

Borough Solicitor Bonnie Brimmeier said the planning commission can make a recommendation on the rezoning, but the decision is council’s.

The property between Route 51, High Road and Ridge Road is zoned as a business park. Waynesburg-based McHolme Development wants commercial zoning.

Bill Sittig, a representative of the development company, said Wal-Mart officials have not committed, but the store is a likely tenant for the property. “The site is woefully underutilized,” he said.

Jefferson Hills residents have argued for and against the proposed development.

Proponents say rezoning and a big-box store would be a boon for the municipality’s tax base. Critics say the change would reduce quality of life in the area.

“We’ll be impacted by the noise, dirt and fumes from cars that will travel our road if you put the Wal-Mart there,” Ridge Road resident Emily Morris said. “I’d have to sprout wings to get out of my driveway. We moved to Ridge Road because it was a country thing—a nice neighborhood with nice people.”

Kevin McFarland, a former borough council member who lives on Hollywood Drive, said about 30 years ago, people fought construction of Jefferson Regional Medical Center, but the hospital has been a boon to the community.

“Traffic was horrendous, and it still is, but the hospital worked because it brought jobs and people relocated, and the same thing would happen with the Wal-Mart,” McFarland said.

If Jefferson Hills denies the rezoning, McHolme Development officials said they would consider a site along Ridge Road in Clairton.

Posted by Beth Gostanian on Thursday, July 19, 2007

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