Politics & Government

See You in Court: Developer Appeals Ross Rejection of Heartland Homes Plan for Highland C.C.

An Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge is expected to consider the issue in September at the earliest.

A few weeks after Ross Township Commissioners voted 5-4 to reject a preliminary plan for 167 townhouses and 134 single family homes on the grounds of the former Highland Country Club, Commissioner Chris Eyster expressed hope the developer would be willing to sit down a consider new options for the plan.

However, Eyster said it appears the developer, Limerick Land Partners, isn't interested in talking to anyone, but a judge.

An appeal has been filed with Allegheny County Joseph James who is expected to consider the case in September.

"We had hoped to sit down and try to work out a compromise that’s more acceptable to the community. Unfortunately, their idea is to have a conference with a judge to debate the legal merits of the case. That doesn’t further our objective," said Eyster. "It’s my impression; they have no intention of changing their plans at this time."

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When the proposal first came before the Ross Township Planning Commission on Nov. 29, many in the crowd of 150-200 people voiced their opposition, saying they feared an increase in traffic on already busy Highland Avenue and Gass Road. 

At the Feb. 19 commissioner’s meeting, attorney Jonathan Kamin, who represents the Limerick Land Partners, acknowledged that the developer's own traffic studies indicated the new housing plan would negatively impact traffic at two key intersections: Highland Avenue and Gass Road, and Highland and Cornell Avenues. 

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The author of the traffic study, Ray Caruso, told commissioners the best solution would involve installing traffic lights, although neither intersection meets the criteria set by PennDOT, which owns both Highland Avenue and Gass Road.

Kamin also said PennDOT would be unwilling to order new traffic signals based on projected traffic from a housing development which has not been built, much less approved.

Eyster said the sheer number of homes and townhomes are also part of the problem.

"Certainly reducing the number of units would help. Right now they are packing them in to maximum capacity to enhance their profits."

But back in November, Kamin argued that number of homes is deceiving, because of the size of the property.

"Keep in mind it's a 117 acre site, so you're talking about less than three homes an acre, if you average it out over the course of the site," he said. "If you look at the typical density of an urban community, it's like five per acre or six per acre, so the 300 home number is obscured by the fact that the site is so enormous." 

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