No Monroeville in Murrysville

By Dave Perry
June 25, 2008 - Penn Franklin News

This is only the first time in my 30 years as a registered voter that I have been sufficiently dismayed to write a letter to the editor expressing my concern with a proposed municipal action.  This letter is related to the proposed Business Overlay District (BOD) being championed by several members of Murrysville Council and the Murrysville Economic and Community Development Corp. (MECDC). 

If the BOD is approved, Murrysville will be well on its way to looking like Monroeville.  On the surface, the BOD appears to be protective of how Murrysville will be developed.  However, the phrase “sheep in wolf’s clothing” keeps coming to mind every time I read it.  Essentially, the BOD will allow areas currently zoned residential to be rezoned as commercial.  Yes, there is an approval process required to do this.  Regardless, it is safe to say that the gatekeepers of that process are less than thorough based on what is happening with the BOD approval process.

I recently had a council member tell me that the BOD ordinance “will prevent all the curb cuts of Monroeville”.  Interesting statement. Last I checked, there was exactly one curb cut feeding the Sam’s Club complex near the Monroeville Mall. By the way, that complex will be coming to Murrysville soon if the BOD is approved as it is currently proposed.

Essentially, the BOD will also allow that open field next to your house to end up as a “Commercial Center” (not my phrase but the BODs).  Large portions of the Route 22 corridor will open up as Commercial Centers.  There will certainly be numerous Big Boxes ending up on these newly “rezoned” parcels.  There is also considerable talk about putting a BOD on Routes 286, 66, 380, and 366.  Guess what, sleepy Sardis in North Murrysville may soon have a Sam’s Club to liven up the night. 

I am a life-long resident of Murrysville and recently constructed a house on 50 acres of property on Edwards Road.  I also own other properties zoned both residential and commercial throughout Murrysville.  I chose to work and live in Murrysville because it has always maintained an essentially “leafy” character. 

I am not a NIMBY (i.e., not in my backyard) as none of my properties zoned residential are anywhere near the area where the Overlay will be developed.  However, one of my commercial buildings may actually be enhanced by it.  Therefore, even though on the surface it appears “I don’t have a dog in that fight”, I do.  I live here and am strongly of the opinion that the BOD will fundamentally change the nature of the community that I live in.  Approval of the proposed Ordinance will effectively DOUBLE the size of retail space currently located within Murrysville.  This change will obviously not be for the better.

I haven’t moved to other communities for a variety of reasons.  Two municipalities that would never be on my list are our neighbors: Monroeville and Plum.  Both municipalities have an awful business district that is not conducive to attracting high quality housing.  Unfortunately, Murrysville Council appears to be posed to allow the same type of development with all the issues associated with the incumbent Big Boxes.

The proposed BOD was developed in a manner between selected members of Council, Manor Development, along with input from the MECDC that would make the politicians of old in their smoke filled rooms extremely proud.  Transparency, disclosure, or input from the general community are not words that anyone would think of when it comes to describing how this ordinance was orchestrated.  I am certain that no back-room deals were made.  However, the way this ordinance is being ram-roded down our throats certainly leads people to wrongly suspect that there is a wonderful present waiting for a few selected folks at the end of the day.

I could reiterate all the reasons that have already been expressed by others as to why the Ordinance in its current form is unacceptable.  Suffice it to say that I agree with most of them.  However, the short story is that several members of Murrysville’s Council are pushing an ordinance that the vast majority of citizens don’t want.  Except for a few selected business and property owners, this ordinance will be a negative for the majority of us.  (Gotta love those Big Boxes folks…)

Personally, the ordinance scares me as a property owner.  I thought that Murrysville had done a reasonable job of putting a zoning map together.  More importantly, I thought that I could rely on the fact that if I built a house in a residential district, that I wouldn’t wake up finding a restaurant/bar built next to me.   However, passage of this BOD will not protect you or me and that restaurant/bar may be one of our neighbors in the future if this thing is passed.  Oh, don’t forget about that Sam’s Club coming to a Commercial Center near you either.

Mercifully, one council member made an impassioned argument at the latest council meeting just as this beast was going to be approved.  Her plea was to have this Ordinance tabled for one month so there could be more inclusion and discussion.  Five of our seven council members agreed and voted to table the ordinance until the July 16^th meeting.  However, even waiting to vote till the 16^th is not enough time to hammer out the significant deficiencies of the BOD.

Interestingly, the two members with strong ties to the MECDC voted against tabling the ordinance.  I seriously question why these two members didn’t vote to allow more dialog on how to make this a great ordinance that will allow responsible development of Murrysville.  However, I leave that a question for others to answer.

So what is the ultimate intent of this letter to the editor?  I am hoping that it helps spur the members of our community to become involved and call or write our council members to demand that they implement responsible development within Murrysville.  I hope that it helps all members of our council realize that transparency during the continued development of this ordinance is critical so that the incorrect thoughts that deals are being made in some smoke filled room stops gaining traction.  More importantly, I want to continue to live in my leafy community and be represented by a council that cares about what the majority of us want and not a few developers that want to bring us more of those very stylish and fashionable Wal-Marts.

In summary, get involved before it is too late.  Unless of course you want a Sam’s Club coming to Murrysville soon.  Here are the names and contact information for our council members so you can inform them of how you think responsible development should occur in Murrysville: