Despite opposition — and even a threat of legal action — from the property owner, Springdale officials took the first step in creating a zoning overlay district around the former power generating station property.
Council members unanimously decided to refer an ordinance providing for various zoning amendments and changes within the borough, including the creation of the overlay district, to the planning commission.
Solicitor Craig Alexander said the Heinz Endowments Foundation reached out to Springdale “and has really taken an interest in trying to figure out ways to redevelop the riverfront, and really everywhere within the borough.”
He said the borough considered rezoning the former Cheswick Generating Station to residential use — something the borough’s planning commission recommended in May — but the Heinz Endowments advised against that.
He acknowledged the opposition from Charah Solutions, the owner of the former power plant property, that removing the property’s industrial zoning classification would make the property valueless because it can’t be developed as a residential area.
“With the overlay district, you continue with your regular zoning classification — so if you’re in industrial now, you stay industrial,” Alexander said. “But the overlay allows you to put other developments in there that otherwise would have been prohibited.”
He said the borough’s planning commission will review the draft and issue a recommendation, and the county also will review the proposal.
Laura Veith, attorney at K&L Gates and counsel for the Cheswick Property Environmental Redevelopment Group, told council the property owner continues to reiterate opposition to any zoning changes — including the overlay. Sam Miller, plant manager of the former Cheswick Generating Station, read a statement on behalf of CPERG, which is owned by Charah Solutions.
Miller said council’s consideration of the overlay would delay and “substantially impact” CPERG’s ability to sell the property.
“It remains clear to us that the borough’s intent is to restrict and control uses of the property,” he said. “Our goal is and always has been to redevelop the former Cheswick Generating Station in a manner that will support the tax base and the betterment of the Springdale Borough community.”
Miller said Charah is proud of the work it has done in Springdale and intends to finish what it started, adding that by purchasing and remediating the property, Charah has created value for the borough. The company hopes to work with the borough moving forward, he said.
CPERG has received multiple cash offers for the property, Miller said, and will sell the property to a buyer who will pay fair-market value and close within a short time frame. He said if the borough takes action “to reduce the economic beneficial uses of the property,” Charah will have no choice but to pursue legal action.
“We don’t want to do that,” Miller said. “Instead, we reiterate our request to meet with you and work productively with you for the betterment for the community.”
Veith declined further comment following the meeting.
The overlay proposal
The draft of the new zoning ordinance states that the overlay district would, among other things:
• Encourage mixed-use development maintaining small-town character oriented to public transit lines;
• Allow flexibility in design, lot sizes, setbacks and other bulk area requirements;
• Promote development with a combination of residential, nonresidential and public spaces of varying densities nearby public transit;
• Recognize public transit and trail facilities’ importance by permitting appropriate densities and a mix of land uses within walking distance;
• Support a more transit and trail-oriented development pattern.
Other goals for the mobility overlay, the draft states, would create connections to publicly accessible open spaces, promote protection or restoration of the natural environment and remediate industrial legacy impacts and encourage innovation of next-generation processes aimed at improving the quality of environment for living, working and playing.
The mobility overlay would apply to land within 750 feet of the Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s Freeport Line, a pedestrian corridor that supports the Erie-to-Pittsburgh Trail’s Three Rivers Heritage Trail system or the Allegheny River’s normal pool elevation as host of the Three Rivers Water Trail network.
