Murrysville Council will look into updating zoning map after 'litany of rezoning requests'

Murrysville Council’s discussion about its latest rezoning request Wednesday night grew into a larger conversation about taking a closer look at — and potentially updating — the municipality’s zoning map.

“I would like to propose a subcommittee to look at zoning in our community,” Councilwoman Jamie Lee Korns said. “I think we need to look at it to see if our zoning is keeping up with the times.”

At issue was a request by Redstone Presbyterian Senior Care to rezone property adjacent to its Redstone Highlands complex on Cline Hollow Road.

The company wants to develop 104 senior apartments and a clubhouse.

It’s one of a number of recent rezoning requests in Murrysville.

“We’ve had a litany of these requests,” council President Dayne Dice said. “I can’t move past the fact that it was (zoned) R-2 (residential-2) when it was purchased.”

A public hearing regarding the request at council’s last meeting saw both the developer and opponents of the project citing different passages in Murrysville’s own comprehensive plan — one that advocates a need for senior housing of the exact type Redstone is proposing and one stating that the town is characterized by its large single-family lots and wooded areas.

Lee Korns said that while there is “an absolute need for a variety of housing price points in our community, I do think there’s a Catch-22.”

“We’ve invested so much into making Murrysville a great community, but we’re losing our seniors. And we are attracting young people, but only when they can afford to move here,” she said. “Western Pennsylvania is not growing. We’ve put so much effort into making this a place people want to live, but I don’t know if we’re providing the options for that.”

During the most recent update to Murrysville’s comprehensive plan — a document that lays out a long-term vision and strategy for a community, which can play a crucial role in securing grant funding — one of the suggestions was updating the municipal zoning map.

“But we didn’t do that,” Lee Korns said. “I don’t want to be seen as anti-development. We can control exactly where we want R-3. We know we want it, and we know we need it.”

Council did not vote on the Redstone request at its March 1 meeting.

However, council unanimously denied a rezoning request by developer Paul Fischione to rezone 55 acres near Murrysville Community Park in order to create 28 single-family lots under an R-1 zoning. As-is, the rural-residential-zoned property could accommodate 21 lots.

“It’s the same with the Fischione property. You buy it with one zoning, and then come and say, ‘It’s more financially advantageous for us if you rezone it,’ ” Dice said. “But at the same time, the point is well taken that this (Redstone proposal) is the type of (housing) Murrysville needs.”

Councilman Carl Stepanovich said Redstone already can build senior apartments on the property.

“R-2 allows for the construction of these facilities,” he said. “Just not the extra density.”

Councilman Jason Lemak said he could see pros and cons to granting the request. He also cited the comprehensive plan, which projects 16% of Murrysville residents will retire in the next few years.

“This provides them with a place to go,” he said. “There’s also a demand for higher-density R-3 properties. And if we don’t grant the request and they proceed with a proposal under the existing R-2 zoning, that will impact more of the land, more of the hillside, and disturb more of that area.”

Dice asked that the Redstone rezoning request be placed on council’s March 15 agenda for a vote.