JACKSON TWP — A new housing development planned for Evans Road has some residents concerned.

Residents’ complaints centered on traffic safety, excessive development and structures being built too close to the road.

At the center of the discussion is a plan to build 115 single-family houses near Youngblood Road and Yellow Barn Lane.

Developer Don Rodgers said the development will be built by Ryan Homes.

“(Jackson Township) is becoming the hottest market in the north for residential development,” Rodgers said. “What’s nice about the site is it’s close to Interstate 79 and buyers can get to Route 228 faster than 95 percent of the residents in Cranberry Township.”

The area already is being cleared for development. Land near the development will be reserved for recreation.

The plan is under review by the township planning commission and was not voted on Wednesday evening.

Planning commission members said the development was on Wednesday evening’s agenda. However, some issues needed to be addressed, leading to it being taken off.

Residents voiced their concerns during the public comment session of the meeting.

Alice Doyle said she had concerns about traffic safety on Evans Road considering children ride their bicycles on that road to Zelienople.

“It works now because of the amount of traffic,” Doyle said. “But if you have kids from the development try to ride their bikes on Evans Road to Zelienople, there is going to be danger issues. It just takes that one car (accident).”

Township manager Chris Rearick said Evans Road could be added to the township’s planned recreation trail connecting the township to Zelienople and traffic studies could be performed to see if a decreased speed limit is needed.

He also said the area containing Perry Way and Tollgate School Road is planned to be decreased to 25 mph and that township officials are talking with developers to possibly widen the roads.

“These are collector roads which are supposed to help, but on the other hand, they are also residential roads,” Rearick said.

Planning commission chairman Ed Komoroski added that safety “is always a concern” when working with developers.

Some residents Wednesday also said they do not want to see the area “become like Cranberry” in terms of having a large amount of developments.

Rearick, however, said that this is “the path of growth.”

“There will be some corridors that are developed,” he said. “It’s just a matter of managing it and where we can leverage it as much as we can.”

“Thirty-five years I’ve lived across from this and to go out on our driveway and see clear cutting, that was a major shock,” said resident Susan Toy-Seibel.

Toy-Seibel said she was also concerned about the “Peyton Place” name and said she hopes the homes planned for Evans Road will not sit too close to the road.

“I’ve seen what happened on Tollgate (School Road) and I am still totally amazed that houses can sit that close to a road,” she said. “I hope that doesn’t happen here too.”

Rearick said construction could start as soon as late summer or early fall if the plan is reviewed and approved in April or May.

Rodgers said he would like for asphalt to be poured into the area before the end of the paving season this fall.

“It (the township) has the access to interstate highways, which is why Cranberry developed, so Jackson is going to do the same thing,” Rodgers said.