Data center discussions may soon return to the fore in Springdale.
The borough is set to begin conversations with developers to form a community benefits agreement.
It will do that with the help of a recently hired consulting group and nonprofit stewardship organization Friends of the Riverfront.
Community benefits agreements are binding contracts between developers and communities that often focus on local investments from developers and the creation of programs to aid host communities.
The creation of a CBA was among the 19 conditions imposed by Springdale Council in their conditional use approval of the data center application in December.
Springdale is funding the work through a $100,000 grant it received from the Heinz Family Foundation to investigate potential improvements in the borough.
Officials had previously been working with Friends of the Riverfront on a “community vision plan,” but the nonprofit’s Director of Trail Development and Government Relations Courtney Mahronich Vita said Friends would also help with the agreement.
Mahronich Vita said she expects things to ramp up in March with public meetings and community surveys.
A yet-to-be-formed steering committee of local officials, community members and county representatives will guide the process, she said.
But she emphasized that the agreement discussions should be directed by community concerns and desires, saying the negotiations would only succeed if locals buy in.
“We’re here to help guide through the process; we’re not here to dictate,” Mahronich Vita said.
In March, she said a schedule for public meetings and input would be created. So far, she said, she had not engaged with developers.
Springdale hired Pittsburgh-based Environmental Planning and Design as a consultant throughout the agreement process.
The company did not respond to TribLive requests for comment.
Already collaborating with the borough, Environmental Planning and Design serves as a consultant for potential Agan Park improvements.
Springdale Councilwoman Deborah Piontek said the work is still in its early stages and more details would likely emerge after the steering committee is formed.
“Everyone’s in the business of making sure this benefits the whole community,” she said.
Brian Regli, a consultant for land developer Allegheny DC Property Co. who has served as the main spokesman for the project, said he’s glad to see things moving and is looking forward to a “dialouge” with stakeholders.
Plenty of items are on the table, he said, including trail and infrastructure investments, improvements to a nearby cemetary and veterans memorial and sound requirements.
“I think this is a good thing,” Regli said. “This is an opportunity for us to bring other folks in.”
Mahronich Vita said she expects the work to be complete by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
Locally, one of the most famous CBAs was inked in 2008 by One Hill, an amalgamation of Hill District community groups, and developers of the then-Consol Energy Center, now PPG Paints Arena.
It obligated developers to put funds toward the creation of a grocery store in the neighborhood and offered Hill residents the first shot at jobs at the arena, among other conditions.
In the coming months, developers will also have to return to Springdale with more detailed models in hand to present a preliminary — and then a final — land development plan.
Like the conditional-use process, both of those plans will have to appear before Springdale’s planning commission and borough council.
Unlike most local municipalities, Springdale doesn’t have its own Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO) to govern the way plots are divided and how they can be developed. The borough defers to the county’s SALDO.
Borough council will be able to offer recommendations to the Allegheny County Economic Development Planning Division, but it’s that body that ultimately will approve or deny the developer’s plans.
