The first Public hearing went well. The Board of Commissioners asked some key questions. They appear to have listened to our comments. It was stated that at the end of next months hearing the Board of Commissioners will have the right to approve, reject, or call for a third hearing. The second hearing is scheduled for 7:30 on October 3 at the USC Recreation Center on Boyce Rd.
WHY? Why is this developer trying to change our Zoning Laws? Because of a VISION that he has had and developed to develop this piece of property. Requesting to have this property re-zoned from SB - Special Business to Mixed Use doesn't satisfy his vision.
So his group, 1800 Washington Road Assocites, has RE-written the Mixed Used Zoning Laws to meet his desired purpose for this property. Or maybe his group has wriiten an ADDITION to the Mixed Use portion of USC Zoning laws. It's not quite clear.
This developer lives in USC, and his partner lives in a near-by community. They believe, and wants us to believe that they have Upper St Clairs best interest at the heart of His Vision and their plan. He has asked a FEW of the neighbors for some input to improve his plan. This has had some positive, and maybe some negative impacts on what might get built here.
This appears to have slowed the fight against His efforts to change our zoning laws. BUT, there are still many unanswered questions. Yes, there are still some who believe that this is bad for USC, bad for this community, bad for near-by schools, bad for anyone who drives by this property on any regular basis, and bad for the immediate neighbors of this property.
He makes very convincing arguments that he cares about our community, and that their plan is the best thing that could happen for USC. But then again, he is not only an attorney, he is in charge of a large group of attorneys. If there is one thing an attorney can do, it is to make a convincing presentation. That is worth keeping in the back of your mind. His almost 2 hour presentation convinced our Planning Committee to recommend his plan.
Has he already won this case? Has he already convinced the township leaders that this is good for our community? He does not have the approval from OUR Board of Commissioners yet. So, our Zoning laws have NOT been changed to meet his vision. There will be Two (2) Public hearings before he can get this approval.
Is His vision good for our community? Many believe it is, while others are on the fence. BUT, there are many who believe it is simply a bad vision for this piece of property. It may be a bad vision for any property in Upper St Clair. What do you think? TRUE, this site has been developed to help people see why this is a bad vision for Upper St Clair. BUT, let's talk about it. I'll try to keep an open mind if you will.
Please post your comments below!
I'm all for the new development of the Consol property. Have you ever traveled outside of USC to see what beautiful shopping/dining facilities are available to other communities? Simon properties didn't do the South Hills any favors in putting Dick's and Target into the Village. Take a look at what Simon did at Ross Park Mall. South Hills Village is old and ugly and headed for a Century III Mall destination! If USC doesn't take advantage of the millions of dollars a developer is willing to spend on the Consol property, then the retailers will be headed to Newbury Market in South Fayette and the whole SHV and Consol area will be a ghost town!
ReplyDeleteThank you for voicing your opinion. It seems as though Century III Mall has gone downhill because the wrong crowd is hanging out there. What killed the Washington Mall? From my view it was over-development. A traffic nightmare and over-development could kill South Hills Village.
ReplyDeleteOver-development killed the mall...over-development killed the mall...is that an oxymoron? Hasn't hurt Ross Park Mall! Randy, do you think that the "wrong crowd" has transportation access to the new Target at SHV? If the Board turns down this developer, he'll take his money to Newbury Market, where everyone will want to shop because it's new.
ReplyDeleteOver-development is where the development of a business causes others to go out of business. I believe locally the Barnes & Nobles caused Borders to close. Lowes and Home Depot has caused many community Hardware stores to close. Walmart and the associated strip mall in Little Washington caused several stores in the Washington Mall to close.
ReplyDeleteClick on the "Kodak Slideshow" near the top left side of this web-page to see some of the empty retail in our community. We need retailers to move into these empty spaces.
The proposed development is adding retail where it likely will do more harm than good.