North Huntingdon officials oppose senior project county housing authority wants to build in Irwin

With apologies to English novelist Charles Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities,” it was both the best and worst of times last week for Westmoreland County Housing Authority’s plans to build a 50-unit senior apartment in Irwin, with an access road through North Huntingdon.

The good time for the four-story Grand View Senior Residences, to be built behind the Norwin Public Library, came when Irwin officials unanimously approved land development plans. Council’s approval April 13 followed a recommendation from the borough’s planning commission.

The bad time for the housing authority’s hopes to start construction on the project in September came at the North Huntingdon commissioners meeting Thursday. The board president expressed his opposition to the plans, and two other commissioners engaged in testy exchanges with a housing authority official. None of the seven commissioners voiced support for the project and its 1,300-foot road from Laurel Avenue to the apartment building. The board is scheduled to vote on the plans April 20.

That was in addition to several residents who live near Laurel Avenue and Caruthers Lane urging commissioners to reject plans for the project.

Despite all of the work the housing authority has done at the site and on preparing plans for the project, Commissioner Jason Atwood said he did not believe the authority has done its “due diligence.”

“Basically, you’re banking the whole project on the (access) road coming off Laurel Avenue,” Atwood said.

An emergency access through the Villages of Easton apartment complex in Irwin would not be feasible for the primary access road because it connects to a parking lot, said Erik Spiegel, the authority’s director of architecture and engineering services.

Commissioner Virginia Stump questioned why the housing authority could not alter its plans for the access road and connect it to Caruthers Lane in Irwin. John Frydrych, an authority engineering consultant, said the slope from Caruthers Lane to the building would be too steep, with a 50-foot rise in elevation over a short distance.

To build the apartment building, the housing authority has to cut into the slope of a hillside. An initial plan created a slope steeper than permitted under township regulations, but Spiegel said the authority submitted a revised plan April 13 that complied with the slope requirements.

Lynn Mehring said the authority’s plans to cut into the hillside to create space for the building could cause the backyard of her late father’s property on Deerfield Drive to erode from stormwater.

Some residents said the project is located in an area where there are many traffic accidents, and there may be more with senior citizens driving to and from the site. There are, however, few accidents reported there in the last five years involving injury or badly damaged vehicles, police Chief Robert Rizzo said.

Sherry Bennett of Caruthers Lane said she was “begging you (commissioners)” not to approve the project because of the accidents that have occurred in that area.

Township consultant Donald Housley said he reviewed a traffic report the authority submitted and “saw no red flags.”

The authority has the right to use its property, Spiegel said, and it has submitted plans that comply with the subdivision and land development ordinance.

Commissioner Eric Gass said they have listened to opposition from the residents and “we (commissioners) have the right to decide what is best” for the municipality.

Commissioner Zachary Haigis, board president, in whose ward the project would be built, already had expressed his opposition to the plans at a March 30 planning commission meeting in Irwin. Haigis said he wants the access road to the building to remain a private road, with the authority responsible for maintenance. He also was concerned about light pollution onto neighboring properties.

Atwood and Spiegel verbally sparred over whether he answered one of Haigis’ questions. At one point, Haigis denied Spiegel the right to speak to the board. Without naming anyone specifically, Spiegel said the authority is facing a bias against the project by some members of the board.