Planning commission vote on Kenric Manor ends in tie
DONORA – A proposal to turn Kenric Manor into housing for international students attending local colleges will go before council.
It’s not because that was the recommendation of the borough’s planning commission, but because that governmental agency’s vote on the request of Future iService LLC resulted in a tie at a meeting held Friday. The tie vote means the request goes straight to council and is considered a recommendation.
Council is expected to vote on the proposal when it meets Dec. 9.
Voting in favor of the proposal from the New York-based company Friday were commission members Brian Pivovarnik and Dale Shawley. Voting no were Dennis Gutierrez, board chairman, and Frank Weir. Michael Singer was not in attendance.
Gutierrez said he had some concerns that led to his no vote.
“I strongly believe that to make an informed recommendation to council, who will make the final decision in this particular matter, they are relying on the planning commission to do their due diligence,” he said in a prepared statement Monday.
Gutierrez said his concerns included the lack of a business plan, and the absence of plans for student parking and security. He added the planning commission was led to believe an agreement was in place with local colleges, such as Penn State Fayette and Westmoreland County Community College.
“These issues would have all been addressed if a full and complete business plan was in place,” Gutierrez said. “Mr. Weir and I both wanted more information to present to council, so, instead of being coerced to vote yes, we held firm to our no vote. I decided to, as the old football terminology goes, let the clock run out.”
Attorney Todd Pappasergi, who is representing Future iServices, said a business plan does not come under the purveyance of the planning commission.
Gutierrez said council is permitted to see the business plan.
Pappasergi said time was spent at Friday’s meeting concerning his belief that agreements were in place with Penn State Fayette and Westmoreland County Community College.
“It was a miscommunication,” Pappasergi said. “We got those things straightened out. My client plans on working with various colleges to try to assist with placement and housing.”
Dr. Charles Patrick, chancellor and chief academic officer at Penn State Fayette, said last week that there was no agreement in place with his college. Gutierrez said he received the same information from Dr. Tuesday Stanley, president of WCCC.
Pappasergi said he communicated with Patrick a number of times last week.
“I apologized to him for any miscommunication,” Pappasergi said. “I certainly hope this doesn’t have an effect on any facilitation my client would have with any colleges in the area.”
As for the concerns about parking, Pappasergi has said it will not be much of a concern since students probably won’t have their own vehicles.
Future iService purchased the facility from a subsidiary of Mon Valley Hospital at an auction in August. The facility has been vacant since 2018, when it was shut down because of various health code violations.
The motion to approve the request included some conditions, including that the property remain a tax-paying property, and that Future iService abide by the zoning ordinance regarding parking by obtaining a variance or figuring a way to have 100 spots available. The company must also ensure a property manager be on site at all times.
“Those were all agreeable to us,” Pappasergi said.
Susan Vitalbo, borough tax collector, said the building has always been on the tax rolls.
“It was never tax exempt,” she said Monday. “It’s always going to be taxable; it doesn’t matter who owns it. It doesn’t matter if there’s nothing in it, he’s still going to be responsible for the taxes.”
The meeting was eventually adjourned with the tie vote and goes forward to council as a recommendation with no conditions.
“Several citizens were very discouraged there wasn’t a fifth (commission member) in attendance,” Pappasergi said.
Pappasergi said Mathein Jiang, owner of Future iServices, plans to attend the Dec. 9 council meeting. A request had been made to postpone Friday’s meeting to a time that Jiang could attend a planning commission meeting, but that request was denied by the planning commission because of the expiration date on the application. The planning commission had 40 days to render a recommendation to council.
“We recognize that regardless of what happened Friday night, the final determination would be made by council,” Pappasergi said. “He recognizes the importance of meeting with council and meeting with the residents and having the answers to their questions coming directly from him.”
Pappasergi, who serves as solicitor in Charleroi and Monongahela, said he and his client were impressed with the amount of attendance and participation from residents at each of the three planning commission meetings regarding this issue.
“We greatly appreciate the borough and the citizens of the borough,” he said. “The amount of participation speaks very highly of the borough and it’s one of the reasons my client wants to set up the housing in this community. It’s a tight-knit community and would be a great place for the students to come in and learn about our culture.”