790-unit development considered in Cranberry
CRANBERRY TWP — Supervisors next week will consider a large residential development after hearing testimony from two residents during a Thursday public hearing.
The Board of Supervisors will consider approving land development, subdivision and conditional use applications with respect to the Crescent development, a proposed residential and commercial complex near the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex with 790 residential units and 9,300 square feet of “non-residential uses.”
During a public hearing Thursday, two residents, both of the Fox Run community near the proposed Crescent development, voiced their approval and disapproval of the proposed development.
Keith Hughes, who has resided in Cranberry for 34 years, said he appreciated the opportunity for resident input into the proposal. Ron Henshaw, director of planning and development for Cranberry, said Crescent’s developer held multiple input meetings with residents of adjacent communities, including Fox Run.
“Having paid close attention to this development as it worked its way through the process of reviews by the township staff and the planning advisory commission, I view it very favorably and as a positive enhancement to the community,” Hughes said.
But one of Hughes’ fellow Fox Run residents, Vincent Mariotti, said he had concerns about the development. Mariotti said he lives down the hill from the proposed Crescent neighborhood, adding he and his neighbors have dealt with numerous stormwater issues throughout the years.
“If that hillside no longer has the acres of foliage — trees and bushes and grasses — and is replaced, like I said, with non-permeable surfaces — like driveways and roads and whatnot — I see that as a recipe for disaster,” Mariotti said.
A public hearing in the same meeting regarding a proposed daycare center drew more comments than the Crescent proposal.
While 790 residential units on 114 acres means there would be nearly 7 units per acre, the dwellings are of various types, leading to a lower density than if all were single-family houses.
Roughly a half-dozen apartment buildings would be constructed in the first phase of the proposed development, along with numerous townhouses and single-family homes. In the remaining two phases, single-family houses and townhouses will fill out the remaining acreage, which will be built up.
Despite the mix of housing, Henshaw said there will not be any clashes with nearby neighborhoods.
“It’s important to note that, what they did is they put like units against like units,” Henshaw said. “There are no townhomes up against true single-family (homes).”
The community would also have a single commercial building of 9,300 square feet, Henshaw said, which would feature “mom-and-pop-type” businesses.
Not all of the 114 acres will be built up.
In fact, Henshaw said, nearly half of the acreage — 52 acres, or 45% — will be comprised of “open space.”
“That exceeds the requirement by far,” Henshaw said. “The requirement is only 15%.”
The amount of open space in the proposed Crescent development is more than the greenspace in Park Place, which features 30% of open space, and is comparable to the area in Bellevue Park, with 44% of open space.
“All of these acres in all these developments will never be built on,” Henshaw said. “They’ll only be green space and maintained as such.”
Supervisors will consider the development as a whole, along with more technical requests, during a June 2 meeting.
