North Huntingdon zoning board faced with issue of 'what is a family'

Detra Pivirotto lives in Lindale Court, a housing plan in North Huntingdon zoned for single family homes. So when a group of about 10 men moved into a nearby house this year, she had questions.

“This was not a familial relationship. It was pretty obvious. It was a commercial relationship,” Pivirotto told North Huntingdon commissioners.

Scott Butler, owner of the house at 2339 Lindale Court, rented it to a construction company, which housed employees there, Pivirotto told commissioners.

She filed a complaint with the township’s zoning officer Thomas McGuire, who said he determined that the renters — who have since moved — fit the definition of a family under the township ordinance.

Single family homes under the R-3 zoning classification are for a single person, a married couple, two or more people related by blood or marriage, or four unrelated people, said Andrew Blenko, township planning director. The occupants included the owner of the construction company, his two sons, a son in law and three other workers, Pivirotto said.

McGuire could not be reached for comment.

Pivirotto appealed McGuire’s ruling, which the North Huntingdon Zoning Hearing Board is scheduled to hear at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

“By allowing our houses to be used as hotels and boarding and rooming houses, we diminish the very thing that makes our neighborhood so attractive,” Pivirotto said.

Butler bought the house in October 2017 for $439,000, records show. He could not be reached for comment. A for-sale sign is located in the front yard.

“If the house doesn’t sell and it is rented out again, it’s Pandora’s box,” Pivirotto said.

Lindale Court resident Angela Schlegel said there is a lack of transparency and visibility as to who is renting properties.

“I want to feel safe on my street and not feel like I am living down the road from a Red Roof (Inn) or an Extended Stay (Hotels) suites,” Schlegel said.

Pivirotto said the township should revise its definition of commercial boarding houses and single family homes. She said the township needs a rental registration ordinance and enforcement steps need to be in place to verify who is living in a home and if they meet the requirements for that zoning classification.

“We need North Huntingdon to be proactive,” Pivirotto said.

“If the township were to enact a rental registration ordinance, it could not be enforced without adding a significant amount of man hours,” Blenko said.

North Huntingdon could not enforce such an ordinance with its current staffing, even if there is a rental registration fee to cover some costs, said township Manager Jeff Silka.

“It is not a fix all, and it is not easy,” said Silka, who dealt with rental registration ordinances in previous positions.