Murrysville council rejects Redstone rezoning request for senior apartments

Murrysville council unanimously turned down a rezoning request last week by Redstone Highlands to fit additional senior-living apartments on property behind their existing facility on Cline Hollow Road.

Redstone CEO John Dickson said the company purchased about 36 acres adjacent to its Murrysville location with the intention of eventually expanding. The Murrysville location opened in 2001 with 90 apartments and 44 personal care units for seniors.

Redstone was requesting a change for the property from its existing R-2 residential zoning to R-3, which would permit more density for four buildings with 26 apartments each, along with a clubhouse.

For several council members at the May 3 meeting, however, the company’s acquisition of land already designated as R-2 was a significant factor.

“It was purchased as R-2 and I believe it should stay that way,” Council President Dayne Dice said. “For me it comes down to what the (nearby) residents would like.”

In addition to testimony from Redstone residents at a February public hearing, council also heard from neighboring property owners who had concerns about increased traffic and changing the character of the neighborhood through a rezoning.

Councilwoman Jamie Lee Korns said she has received “an immense amount” of feedback from residents about the proposal.

“My concern is rezoning requests in general,” she said. “We know we need to look at our zoning. It’s critical for a community to have a good commercial corridor and areas for high-density housing. But when I look at our map, that seems to be much more along the Route 22 corridor. I think we’re getting too far away from that to rezone this as R-3.”

Councilman Carl Stepanovich pointed to the way that development in Murrysville tends to become rural not long after leaving the Route 22 corridor.

“Growing up in the South Side of Pittsburgh, places like Mt. Lebanon were where people wanted to move when they left the city,” he said. “I just tend to think that if we keep expanding the ‘high-rise’ situation, things continue to get more urbanized. And we have such a good thing going in Murrysville … it’s not really a suburb, it’s a rural-residential mix and I’d like to keep it that way.”

The rejection does not preclude Redstone from developing the property under the existing zoning, and Dice said it shouldn’t be seen as a rejection of Redstone in general.

“I think Redstone does a great job,” he said. “You hear a lot of great things from the people who live there. That said, I’ve received nothing but the public living in the area, asking us not to approve this.”