CRANBERRY TWP — Two Cranberry residents will work with township staff regarding community input on the municipality's “Missing Middle Housing” proposal.

The residents, Lindsay Murray and John Scarfutti, are coordinating a response to the township's now-withdrawn proposal, and are accepting resident input via email at CranberryTownshipMMH@gmail.com.

The proposal, which was withdrawn from consideration at a board meeting in March, would have provided additional tools for developers to create denser residential neighborhoods on select parcels throughout the township.

Cranberry officials styled the Missing Middle Housing, or MMH, overlay proposal as a way to attract younger residents or those just starting out their careers or families, furthering the township's goal of diversifying its tax base.

Residents who had opposed the proposal, however, thought Cranberry should remain predominately single-family homes as opposed to the multi-unit residential dwellings that would have been permitted within parcels utilizing the MMH overlay.

Township manager Dan Santoro said in March the township wanted to move forward with its goal of bringing younger or early-career residents to Cranberry, but wanted to do so in a manner congruent with what residents wanted to see.

He added much of the work with residents will demonstrate the township has already implemented policies to counteract some concerns, such as “buffering” requirements to ensure single-family houses in extant developments are not across the street from quadraplexes or other multi-family dwellings.

Another element, he said, would be addressing what he deemed “misinformation,” such as the overlay being another way for developers to create areas in which residential and commercial uses are within the same neighborhood. While he called such fears inaccurate, he added they need to be allayed before the township moves forward.

“We've not thrown in the towel with regard to introducing mixed-use housing in the township,” Santoro said in March. “We're just going to do that in a way that listens to and addresses some of the concerns we've heard.”