Community Corner

Bellevue 'Grill-abration' Protest Draws A Crowd

Hundreds flocked to a cook out Thursday in Bellevue to protest the borough's ban on grilling near homes and buildings.

Charlene Kinyanjui had no idea a protest on Bellevue's grilling ban was even happening in her town Thursday until she saw the large cook-out gathered in the streets outside the borough building.

She was one of hundreds who attended the “Grill-abration,” the name given to Thursday's demonstration opposing a Bellevue ordinance that contains language preventing grilling within 5-feet of a residence, porch or combustible materials, for safety reasons.

“I think it’s taking away some of our rights,” Kinyanjui, 58, complained. 

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Bellevue Mayor George Doscher said he vetoed the law, but council overrode his veto 6-3 last week. For many residents whose homes are built close together, it means no cook-outs unless citizens obtain one-time open burning permits.

Doscher said the ban is symbolic of government thinking they have to control everything. He said the "Grill-abration" was a way to bring the community together.

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“This is kind of a tongue-in-cheek protest,” said Doscher, who wore an apron and chef’s hat. “We want to have a good time and promote the borough.”

Also in attendance was Bellevue Councilwoman Kathleen Coder, . Coder and two councilmen, Mark Helbling and Frank Camello, voted against the measure, which she said cost several thousands of dollars to craft.

“It’s a microcosm of what is going on in government,” Coder said. “…I’ve been fighting this fight for four years. I’m just glad now that other people are seeing it and standing up.”

A steady flow continued to come out to the four-hour event. People stood in the hot sun waiting at grilling stations for cold drinks, hot dogs, sausage and hamburgers. Most of the food and drink was donated, including 100 pounds of ground meat from the mayor of Coraopolis.

KDKA radio host Marty Griffin broadcast his program at the event and helped organize the protest, which he said was about more than just grilling.

“It’s about people being able to live their lives,” he said.

Liberty in Bellevue,” a grass roots group of citizens and leaders working to make the borough a better place to live, also attended the event.

Tom Fodi, a founding member, said one of the biggest challenges has been that some of the political philosophies in town are decades behind. He called the grill ban "silly." 

“This is one more reason to add to a list of reasons why people wouldn’t want to move here,” Fodi, 29, said.

He said Liberty in Bellevue essentially started from Bellevue's restrictions, as a dry town, on businesses obtaining liquor licenses. An alcohol referendum failed last year by about 80 votes.

“The alcohol referendum that happened last year sort of planted the seed for this,” Fodi said.

Sam DiBattista, owner of , said the ban on allowing businesses to serve alcohol was one of the reasons he decided to. He said it became tiresome and tedious as an entrepreneur trying to grow. Meanwhile, only eight miles away, he said the opportunity to have a liquor license in was priceless.

“I just got tired of it,” said DiBattista, who attended the protest Thursday. “Sewickley was wonderful to us and not just to us, but to all the businesses that have come in recently. We’re doing really innovative things and we were really out of place here (in Bellevue).”

Some like Lois Shenck, 56, summed up their feelings with protest signs. Hers read: “Catch the Crooks, Not the Grillers.”

“I just feel it’s a ridiculous ordinance and it needs to be repealed,” said Shenck, a Bellevue resident for 12 years, who attended the protest on her lunch break.

The protest also drew support from of out of town.

“I came to protest. It’s ridiculous” said Lynne Spadafore of Ross Township, who couldn’t imagine being unable to grill on her own deck. She said the ban could happen anywhere.

“First Bellevue, then West View, then Avalon…” she said.

Kinyanjui echoed similar sentiments while enjoying a hot dog, saying she didn't pay close enough attention to council, but plans to become more involved.

“If they do this, what are they going to try to do next?”

A message left for Bellevue Council President Linda Woshner was not returned.

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