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How did we get where we are?
A History of the Murrysville Greater Business Overlay District Ordinance
How did we get where we are? Plain and simple; we became
complacent. Too many other things got our attention and little
attention was paid to what Council was doing. From about 2002 to
2006, Council’s
leadership was able to establish a voting Block of
Four.
In the summer of 2002, a Comprehensive Plan was submitted to Council
for approval by the Comprehensive Plan Committee of about 30 who had
worked on it for almost three years. It passed without opposition. A
Comprehensive Plan has no validity until implemented by a zoning map
and zoning ordinances. It was obvious that the leadership of Council
was not favorable to the submitted Comprehensive Plan when it came
to implementing it despite the fact it had been submitted to the
State for approval and had come back with high praise.
When the zoning map was presented at a public meeting in the fall 0f
2004, it was obvious that significant changes had been recommended
by the Planning Commission: increased residential density, S-1 and
B-2 zoning were to be eliminated, all non-residential changed to B
commercial. Large tracts of land on School Road South, Sardis Road,
Bulltown Road and others were
recommended to change from S-1 and R-R to R-2 medium density. It was
obvious land owners in several cases had a say in these changes. As
a result, there was a public outcry in western Murrysville, which
resulted in the formulation of a citizens’
group, Murrysville Land
Preservation, who hired legal counsel to fight
Council’s
zoning change
proposal. The group was able to defeat most of the proposed
changes. R-R became the largest lot size where public utilities do
not exist.
During the spring of 2007, a rezoning proposal of the
Buncher
Property from Manor Development Group II was submitted and in
December 2007, council voted
“no”
to the rezoning proposal.
Council tabled action on the rezoning request in May 2007 as we were
told that Planning was soon to send us the Overlay and that their
recommendation was for the
Buncher Property to be included in
the Overlay properties. Planning finally passed the ordinance on to
Council in late June/early July 2007. There was a draft of the
General Business Overlay Ordinance recommended by Planning
Commission in July of 2007.
The President of Council appointed three Council members to review
the proposed ordinance and to make recommendations prior to
presentation of the General Business District ordinance before
Council. There was no action taken on the proposed ordinance for
the balance of 2007.
Manor Development Group II was going to appeal
council’s
“no” decision of December 2007 to the
Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board. If this appeal was turned down,
Manor Development Group II could take the zoning ordinances to
court. Apparently, Council did not want to risk going to court.
Early in 2008 a mediation committee was
appointed by the Council President. This committee did not include
all of Council, acting as a whole, as was required, but included
three members of Council and representatives of Manor Development
Group II as well as legal representation from both sides.
Modifications to the proposed ordinance were recommended as a result
of the mediation sessions.
What is
the Greater Business Overlay District ordnance?
If you do an Internet Google search on "Zoning
Overlay", you will see that most of the search results describe a zoning overlay
as a way to protect the area from development, not a way to increase
development. However, this is not the case with the proposed Murrysville zoning
overlay.
As defined by the Citizens Overlay Guide the
zoning overlay is: "An overlay is a modification of the base zoning that allows
additional uses or imposes additional restrictions in a particular area. The
state code allows municipalities to modify base zoning in certain areas to
encourage innovation and creative development. These areas may lie near
interchanges or transportation corridors where a modified treatment of the base
zoning occurs. In other words, if a parcel is zoned R-1 and lies within the
overlay, its zoning remains R-1 but the overlay allows for additional uses to
occur subject to the standards and procedures of the ordinance."
"Municipality of Murrysville desires to
concentrate commercial and mixed use development within areas that include or
are proximate to existing infrastructure".
Basically what it boils down to is the Overlay as it stands now is an easy way
for the Murrysville Municipality to gain larger tracks of land down the Route 22
corridor for commercial use in hopes of gaining larger tax revenues. Yes, the
Municipality will "spin" the issue saying the Overlay is a good concept since it
will bring architecture standards and large green space buffer zones into the
zoning ordinance among other items. Our question has been why aren't these items
in the current commercial zoning?
We have been told by the Murrysville Council on several occasions that a "big
box" could easily fit into some of the currently zoned areas along the Route 22
corridor as the zoning is now. Murrysville defines a big-box structure as 75,000
sq/ft. However, back to reality, if you look at the zoning maps, the current
topography, the set backs needed, and a parking lot needed for a big box
retailer to fit into the spaces it couldn't happen as the zoning stands now.
The citizens of Murrysville should also be aware that a Phase 2 and a Phase 3 or
the Overlay ordinance is planned for the Route 66 and Route 366 corridors!
To download a Citizens copy of the
Overlay Ordinance from the Murrysville website in PDF format:
click here
To download a copy of the Overlay Ordinance from the Murrysville website
in PDF format:
click here
To download a copy of the current Zoning Map
from the Murrysville website in PDF format:
click here
For information on the Comprehensive Plan
(CP): click here for
CP information
What properties are in
the Overlay?
There are basically three large
parcels and one smaller parcel in the proposed Overlay as it stands now. The
most talked about parcel is the Buncher Property. Murrysville-based Manor
Development Group has been working to develop a 400,000 sq/ft, big box shopping
center on a 130-acre site formerly owned by Squirrel Hill-based Buncher Co. on
Route 22 at Berlin Farm Road. The Buncher Co.
is a Pittsburgh commercial real estate development and brokerage firm. What many
Murrysville residents have not realized is the area across from the Buncher site
that is also included in the Overlay (see maps and photos below). This
area abuts the Franklin Estates residential housing plan. As you drive down
Route 22 you will notice the large 2-lane center turning lane that has already
been installed for this Commercial Center with access to both sized of the
Overlay parcels. To give you an idea of a big-box building the Salem Twp.
Wal-Mart building is 155,000 sq/ft and is the largest big-box in our area. See
the photos below of the Salem Twp. Wal-Mart building. Can you imagine the size
of 400,000 sq/ft? There are only 300,000 - 400,000 of total retail space in
Murrysville now. This will double our retail space in one shopping center.
In a risky purchase Manor Development Group bought the Buncher Property in which
most of this site was zoned R-2 residential property. Only a small portion of
this property was zoned B (Business). Manor Development Group proposed a big-box
Target & Lowe's shopping center among other buildings on this site but it was
turned down by the Murrysville Council in a 4-3 vote to re-zone this property to
Business. Since there are not enough large Business-zone parcels along Route 22
to satisfy the Murrysville Comprehensive Plan Manor Development Group decided to
litigate this "no" vote on the re-zoning of this property. Manor Development
Group and members of the Murrysville Council immediately went into a mediation
process to resolve this litigation and thus we have the birth of the Overlay
plan seen below. Although this litigation is still pending Manor Development
Group is waiting to see the outcome of the Overlay vote before it decides to
either drop the case or proceed with the case against the Municipality.
Buncher Property Overlay Map
Click on the photo for a larger view
The area shown with the "X" is the current B (Business) zoned
area. The dark area is the residential area in the proposed Overlay
area. Both areas together could be a HUGE Commercial Center |
Aerial view of Buncher/Franklin Estates
Click on the photo for a larger view |
Aerial 3D view of Buncher/Franklin
Estates
Click on the photo for a larger view
The area on the left side of Route 22 is the Buncher Property and
the area to the right abuts Franklin Estates. Route 22 is the road in
the center. |
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Aerial Photos of the
Murrysville Area
They say a picture is worth a
thousand words. This is true when comparing photos using Google Earth in 3D view
to "fly around Murrysville". Below are some typical photos of our community with
a comparison photo of the Wal-Mart big-box retailer in Salem Twp. This will give
the citizens the chance to see the size comparison in the same scale of a
big-box retail structure. While Wal-Mart is set back from the Route 22 corridor
substantially the proposed big-box retailer Target & Lows complex on the
Buncher Property is not. It will be in plain
view for all to see. Is this how you want the face of Murrysville to change?
This is the reality of the situation of the GBOD passes before Council.
3D Aerial Photos of the
Murrysville Community compared to Wal-Mart, Salem Twp.
(all photos in the same scale)
Cleveland Brothers
Click on the photo for a larger view |
McDonalds/Rt 22area
Click on the photo for a larger view |
Franklin Regional School
Click on the photo for a larger view |
Wal-Mart "big-box"
Click on the photo for a larger view |
Aerial Photos of the Buncher
Property compared to some Monroeville Structures
(all photos in the same scale)
Buncher Property
Click on the photo for a larger view |
Monroeville Mall
Click on the photo for a larger view |
Monroeville Target/Giant Eagle
Click on the photo for a larger view |
Salem Twp. Wal-Mart
Click on the photo for a larger view |
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