Penn Township set to vote on plan for independent living facility

Penn Township commissioners will vote this week on a land development plan for an independent living facility proposed for Harrison City-Export Road.

The 119-unit facility was proposed by contractor Concordia of Monroeville for 21 acres of land behind Westmoreland Country Club, near the Bella Victoria housing plan. Commissioners tabled the vote Oct. 18 primarily due to concerns of the facility’s sewage plan.

Concordia is required to submit proposals to the township for full approval of the land development plan, said Bill Roberts, the township’s community development director. This includes how sewage and stormwater will be managed and how first responders will access and operate on the property during an emergency.

“What we’re requesting is preliminary approval, and that allows us time to seek these various approvals,” project engineer Mike Sanford said. “But there is no requirement in the (township land development) ordinance to have that … prior to preliminary land development.

“We acknowledge it as a condition, and we will work toward satisfying that condition,” he said.

The proposed site falls between the service areas of two sewage treatment facilities — the Franklin Township Municipal Sewage Authority and the Western Westmoreland Municipal Authority — Roberts said.

Concordia is working with the treatment facilities, the Penn Township Sewage Authority and representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection to determine which entity will handle the site’s sewage flows, Roberts said.

The location for the site formerly housed the back nine holes of the Westmoreland Country Club golf course, said Sanford. It is vacant and overgrown, but elements of the former golf course are still visible, he said.

The proposed facility will be built in a U shape, featuring two driveways and three off-street parking garages, Sanford said. Developers plan to use the former golf course pond for stormwater management purposes, he said.