News

"I don't think it should be developed," she said of the 214 acres of former farmland off Battle Ridge Road. "We should leave it as is."

Lynn Munnelly agreed.

"We don't want a cookie-cutter housing plan like other communities. It's a beautiful property and should be preserved as much as possible," she said.

That's the view of most residents who have spoken out at public meetings on the land, said Sue Caffrey, president of the township commissioners and a board member for the South Fayette Conservation Group.

Commissioners plan to wait until a parks study is completed, probably in a few months, before deciding the fate of the township-owned land, Caffrey said. A gymnasium and two vacant houses remain on the site, where a home for troubled boys once operated.

"When we first began looking at what to do with the Boys' Home, there were some concerns that the property would be overdeveloped," she said. "Fears of a massive housing plan on the property will not happen. The residents made that quite evident to us."

In addition to the parks study to determine recreational needs, South Fayette and the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation each have pitched in $25,000 for a study of how the Boys Home land could be developed.

One goal of the Boys Home study is to create a template that South Fayette could use for developments at other sites.

Frederick Bonci of LaQuatra Bonci Associates, the consulting firm the township hired for the study, recommended that South Fayette change its zoning regulations.

"There should be some development restrictions for all new projects, such as penalties for clearing away too many trees," he said.

As in most communities, South Fayette's zoning laws are engineering-based and don't allow for preservation of farming or natural resources, Bonci said.

Bonci, speaking at a public meeting on the Boys Home land last week, suggested allowing more creative land uses -- such as hamlets or small villages nestled within the woodlands of undeveloped properties.

Commissioners are rewriting the zoning ordinance, and Caffrey said recent zoning changes have favored more preservation of open space.

"The Boys' Home is still an open topic, as it was six months ago," Caffrey said. "We'll determine the next steps to take with the understanding that the residents want to preserve the open space."

Staff writer Treshea Wade contributed to this story.

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News