Monroeville Council denied a rezoning request Feb. 9 that would have led to the development of apartments for seniors along Logans Ferry Road.
The unanimous decision followed a two-hour hearing in council chambers where several residents voiced strong opposition to the project, which would have been developed by New York-based Clover Development.
Clover currently operates 32 apartment buildings designed for seniors aged 60 and older. The company wished to build a 122-unit building along Logans Ferry Road on property that houses Harold Brown Memorial Field, a private airport.
In order to do that, the company needed to rezone the 58 acres to R-4, the municipality’s zone that allows multi-family dwellings. The plan was to rezone the entire property but only use around 8 acres for the apartments. The rest of the land would have been subdivided and sold, said Robert Jack, Clover’s senior development director.
Jack presented the company’s plans during the hearing. Reached via email after the meeting, he said “we are reviewing our options for this Monroeville project.” He declined to offer more information.
Manager Tim Little said he has not heard from the company on whether it has plans to develop elsewhere in Monroeville.
Council members said they voted against the rezoning request because of traffic-related issues and because of the possibility of new development on the land once the property is subdivided and sold — which would exacerbate existing traffic-related concerns.
Mayor Nick Gresock did say, however, there is a “huge need” for senior housing in Monroeville.
“But I would agree that this is a very challenging spot to put it and maybe not the best spot,” Gresock said, adding he, too, worried about the rest of the property being developed under Clover’s proposed plan.
In December, Jack presented the project to the municipality’s planning commission. At that time, he said the property’s owner – Helen Brown – only wanted to sell the entire property. Brown, who died in 2008, is listed as the property’s owner on Allegheny County real estate records.
Jack said the property is now owned under an estate managed by Emil Bohinski. When reached by phone, Bohinski declined to comment.
The planning commission recommended approval, and the rezoning request appeared on council’s agenda in January, when council tabled the item.
Concerns voiced by around 20 residents during the Feb. 9 meeting ranged from traffic congestion to reduced privacy, environmental complications on the undermined property and the potential for increased flooding.
“We are very concerned about the increase in number of vehicles,” said Suzanne Kromka, who lives on Willow Hedge Drive, a neighborhood that would have been the closest to the development. She noted that traffic is already going to increase along the narrow road due to the brand new, Maple Crest housing development being built on the north side of the airport’s property.
The Maple Crest development – still under construction – is slated to bring 133 homes to the area.
Clover’s traffic analysis, completed by Crafton-based Wooster & Associates, found the apartment building would add 460 vehicles traveling Logans Ferry per day. At the pique hours of the day, Roberts said the development would add 32 vehicles to the road.
Several residents also voiced concerns about flooding along the road and in the area. Some described the area as becoming a “marsh land” during heavy rains. A Monroeville woman became trapped in her vehicle in July 2019 during a rain storm and needed to be rescued.
In August, the Monroeville Municipal Authority received grants totaling more than $1 million to rehabilitate 35,000 feet of sewer lines in what has been called the “Garden City sewer shed” along Woodhaven Drive. Work for that was slated to be completed by the end of this year.
The municipality is seeking options on what to do along the road to fix the flooding issues. Options discussed in a December 2019 meeting included plans costing up to $2.5 million.
The status of a state Department of Environmental Protection permit to build detention ponds on its Public Works Department property along Starr Drive was unclear at the time of this writing.
