Sewickley Hills Council Makes Zoning Changes

After running into past housing-development issues,  Council voted Monday to amend a portion of the borough zoning ordinance that pertains to planned residential developments.

A PRD is an alternative plan that allows a community to retain its rural character by preserving some open space while providing developers with the flexibility to build a higher-density project in the available space.

But Council Vice President Cindy Phillips said the borough’s planning commission requested that council make zoning changes pertaining to the developments to help protect Sewickley Hills from giving future developers too much flexibility.

Phillips said zoning for residential developments was changed in 1995 to include the developments and was changed again in 2008. 

Several developers have chosen to build residential communities. The Village of Sewickley Hills, a gated condo development, was approved as a PRD plan, as was the Woods of Sewickley Hills, a 37-acre housing plan off Red Mud Hollow Road. The Woods of Sewickley Hills  -- on Sweetwater Drive, Stillwater Road and Raintree Lane --  is under development.

Developers who proceed with a PRD plan must agree to set aside 30 percent of the land as a common open space, not including wetlands, flood plains, slopes and other property that is not suitable for building.

Because of some confusion in the ordinance's language, Council President Tom Klixbull said, developers for the Woods of Sewickley Hills set aside land that could not be used for buildings.

"The public opinion and council's opinion was, what happened was really not acceptable," Klixbull said. 

That confusion allowed the developer to gain approval for six single-family homes per acre rather than two units per acre, as intended by the ordinance. The planning commission has also recommended changing the regulations to allow three units per acre.

“Residential or single-family homes would still be allowed to go forward, but it would protect us from six units per acre,” Phillips said.

Council voted Monday to amend the zoning ordinance to change the way officials calculate what is usable green space and what is not when it comes to such developments. 

Resident Joe Hajnas Jr. asked council where the incentive lies for a developer if 30 percent of the property is eliminated for potential construction of buildings. He suggested council decrease the percentage.

“You want to make it attractive to the developer and provide an incentive,” Hajnas said.

Councilwoman Kim Holzer said she would like to know what surrounding communities require. She pointed to an earlier mention that , for instance, requires only 10 percent.

“I understand we want to keep this borough clean, but 30 percent? I’m thinking 30 cents on a dollar, that’s a lot,” she said.

Council voted to have the solicitor draft the changes for advertisement. A public hearing on the matter is scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. Aug 29 before council takes a final vote.  Councilman Klaus Gross was absent.