North Strabane residents voice concerns about proposed housing plan
Dozens of North Strabane Township residents attended a hearing Tuesday to voice concerns about a proposed residential development along Christy Road.
Pittsburgh-based developer Laurel Communities is seeking conditional use permission to build a 161 single-family home development known as Hidden Acres on a 203-acre property in an A-2 zoning district.
Residents are concerned about how additional traffic will impact the winding road and its connecting roads.
Mike Wetzell, of Victor-Wetzell Associates, an architectural and engineering firm, provided an overview of the proposed development, which calls for the homes to be built on half-acre lots.
The developer plans to build Hidden Acres in four phases.
Wetzell said all conditions of the conditional use application have been met and that the developer would address minor issues before the supervisors vote on the request.
The planning commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of the Laurel Communities conditional use application at a previous meeting.
But residents worry that additional traffic could pose a safety issue, pointing out the “S” turns on Christy Road and the winding, narrow roads adjacent to it. They also voiced concern about the width of Christy Road and its neighboring roads. Christy Road also includes a single-lane bridge and a railroad abutment.
Some residents questioned the accuracy of a traffic study that concluded an additional 116 vehicles would be on the road during peak morning hours, and 156 vehicles during peak afternoon hours, and that the road can sufficiently handle the additional traffic.
Bob Cox, who lives on Christy Road, said the residents are concerned about the traffic generated by more homes.
“So many places on Christy Road are hazardous. The bottom of Christy Road is a tortuous little path around a railroad abutment and then almost a left, 90-degree turn to get onto a one-lane bridge. After you get off the bridge, it’s probably a 60-degree turn or more to get up to the railroad tracks,” said Cox. He added that in addition to more cars, “you have all these deliveries from UPS and other delivery services that are only going to increase in the future because more and more people are doing online shopping.”
Supervisors are expected to vote on the conditional use application at their Feb. 25 meeting.