Jul 26, 2016 2 min read

A Beaver County developer is challenging North Strabane Township supervisors’ denial of its plans for a 96-acre housing plan.

Lawyers for Clinton-based Maronda Homes Inc. filed a land-use appeal last Thursday in Washington County Court, saying township supervisors’ 3-1 vote last month against the Magnolia Ridge master plan violated state law.

Lawyers for the builder wrote township officials didn’t cite specific provisions of the local land development ordinance or give other legal basis for rejecting the plan and improperly considered aspects of the application that fall under PennDOT’s jurisdiction.

The proposed development, on property along Lindley Road, could have accommodated as many as 152 single-family homes, according to the petition. Lawyers for the developer said township supervisors voted to deny the application June 28. The planning commission had recommended approving it earlier in the month.

“It was primarily a safety concern from the township’s perspective, given the increased traffic when that development is fully built out,” said township manager Frank Siffrinn.

The supervisors’ main reason for the denial was the effect it could have on traffic near the intersection of Lindley and Route 19, where drivers turn left across traffic to head north on the state highway, according to officials.

“There have been numerous accidents at this intersection, and the supervisors are concerned that more development in this area will increase the risk of a serious and possibly fatal accident in the future,” solicitor Gary Sweat told Maronda in a July 5 letter.

Maronda’s attorneys wrote that state transportation officials didn’t recommend any new traffic controls at the intersection in question when they reviewed a transportation impact study prepared for the developer.

Sweat’s letter said PennDOT officials “were not insisting on the installation of a traffic signal at the present time but would review this matter in the future as more data became available.”

The builder’s petition also asserts it had addressed officials’ concerns before the vote and complied with the township land development ordinances and other ordinances.

Lawyers with the firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney who represent Maronda Homes couldn’t be reached for comment.