Sewickley Herald

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Wednesday, May 17,1975
Voi. 73 No. 23
Planners dash Marra's hopes
The hopes of builder-developer William Marra to erect a ¿even-story senior citizens building in the heart of Sewickley were temporarily dashed on May 10 by the Sewickley Manningcommission.
The nlanners. meeting to send forth recommendations to Sewickley Council, held firm on the existing height limitation of SO feet for the property zoned “com-
lUvidal-offlcvJi* Thn WvUiu ffiCcinloppkig
off at least one floor of Marra’s proposed building for the seniors.
The planners did vote to recommend-lowering the density requirement for minimum lot area per dwelling size from 2500 sq. ft. to 750 to accommodate senior citizen housing, however, that footage exceeds Marra's proposal.'(This would cut the number of units to 65, If the building is built as planned.) v What Marra has proposed is 461 sq. ft density'based on placing the seniors, housing on,about 49,000 sq. ft. of the 80,000 sq. ft. of the total property.
In addition, the planners voted to recommend increasing the present parking space requirements from the current 1.25 spaces to 3,33, or one space for every three units. This would apply to senior citizens housing dwellings only. 1 Marra’s plan proposes a 72-underground parking garage with 15 or possibly more .
surface' parking -spaces: However,1 this would be shared with the office complex which is the other Building planned for the
two-acre site.
The recommendation of the planners will be sent to Sewickley Council where
they may bo rejected or broadened.,, .
Should council approve. the -recommendations, aNpubllc meeting advertised in advance, would be required before any final actions taken.
William Marra, of Wilmar Properties, Inc., was clearly disappointed at his treatment at the hands of the planning commission whose members are H. Alan Speak, Eliza Novln, Mary Parker, JohnR. Simpson and Frank L. $8900, Jr.
Tho usually calm Marra said he was amazed that some of the data of his proposal had not been discussed. Specifically, he mentioned the low per-
Plans for
»
nursing home hem
, Plans are afoot to establish a nursing home in the Quaker Valley School District area, It was revealed last week by the Sewickley Ministerial Assn.
. According to The Rev. Russell W. Turner, convenor of the local church
Sup, two exploratory Meetings have on place which included representatives from local churches, the Sewickley
Now the group Is ready to seek in-capotulont non-profit status for the purpose of building and operating an nursing fia Anothor 80*1 would be the raising
•i]®* Turner said no concrete plans for to1 site have been made. "These Ssl,ons.would be left to a board of directors," ho said.
„n™J ^Sunlzatlonal meeting to which ortLWntives fpom all local TiS» Ss are touted I® planned for *t 8 p.m, in the Con* 4th Floor, Sewickley Valley '(Enter through the Ambulatory
call Mm	t0 atteod are requested to
Brown, 741-6600, Ext. 1800.
centage of lot coverage—26 percent—and ‘ the aesthetics’ plus.
He said lie felt he was being judged under-a “residential” standard, rather - than commerciai-office which the property is zoned. “Judge me with my peers on this thing,” he pleaded.
Concerning density, Marra said the present commercial zone is “a hundred percent density and hanging over.”
Marra said what he had proposed was reasonable from a professional standpoint. “Remember, 1 have to compete economically. If it isn’t feasible economically, you’re not going to get the alocation.”
Marra’s complex would be a private enterprise backed by a 40-year mortgage from the Pa. Housing Finance Authority (PHFA). The Sewickley project is only one of a large number of developments hoping to gain favor under the Section 8 clause of the fedederal Housing and Urban Development (HUD). code which subsidizes rents for senior citizens. Meeting HUD building requirements is a must to receive the PFHA mortgage.
Marra's remarks touched off additional comment from Board of Trade President Mrs. Peggy Smith. Mrs. Smith said she couldn’t understand the logic of. the planning commission throwing up stumbling blocks to a. proposal which offered greenery, an open area with more trees and people with less cars. “If you turn this down. What would you accept?”, asked Mrs. Smith.
Marra’s planwas also backed by a letter of approval from Jonathan Green of Green International, Inc., who called the plan ‘‘‘excellent’*. Green pointed out the aesthetics of the plan and the benefit to the community of having more mature people in the Villagesection.
Opposing the height of the building and the concept of plan generally was Arthur-Graffito, Maple Lane, who also corresponded by letter.
Alan Speak, chairman of the planning commission, termed density as the crucial issue. He pointed out that under present zoning, 2,500 sq. ft. per unit is required. He _ warned toe commission'of its duty to provide some guidance to council and to PHFA. In So doing, “we have to be very, very careful” he said.” In a way, it will set a precedent”
Speak said a vote must be taken at toe meeting because of toe impending PFHA site inspection in toe near future. Council, he said, would have five or six months to get any proposed zoning changes in shape should they beadopted.
In the individual review of opinion of commission members, Mrs. Parker expressed concern over toe character of the Village- Although she sees toe need for the housing, Mrs. Parker was concerned with height and density and never budged during the vote.
John Simpson said housing for toe elderly would add and not detract from toe community. He was worried about more height than density. Eliza Nevta also registered concern over the height of the building and would settle, she said, for.-loping off Uie top two flom. Since toe new building is not in a residential zone, she could not see the precedent-setting aspect of the lowering toe density requirements for the Marra plan as applicable elsewhere.
Frank Sacco said his personal preference would be six stories and 60 ft which would allow 114 units, Sacco could not see that the proposed housing would spoil the Sewickley image which one of brroad diversity, a diversity he termed a "wide mix.”	,	, ,
Tiie chairman had the last say. Recognizing that housing for elderly is needed, 1» preferred the 50 ft height, but to him density remained toetajy issue.
■ Concerningthe site, Speak said he believes the fFHA will look with favor. Speak, who is a planner by profession, said it was a more desirable site than Leet-• sdale’s. Leetsdaie is also seeking approval from PHFA to erect a senior citizens’ housing complex on the former Leetsdaie elementary school building.
Sacco, who is president of Sewickley Council, brought the planners up to date on the Sewickley pest office decision not to build across the boulevard on the Hovis property. The post office’s current first alternative, he said, is renovation of the l present post office and second the Griffith •property.
ON THE BRINK, one of twelve cars derailed on tracks in Glenfield hangs oyer . river bank. One car actually landed in the Ohio River. The derailment occurred early Sunday near Agnew Hill.
v	More pictures on Page 18A.
Train wreck
Tons of soybeans spilled onto Conrail’s tracks in Glenfield, early Sunday morning, as twelve cars of a 100-car trainful of grain left the tracks, Sunday morning, snarling rail traffic for hours.
The accident occurred at 4 a.m. when part of the Conway to Baltimore,Md. train derailed near Sewickley. The train limped on to toe accident site, approximately 1,000 feet east of toe Haysville crossing, gouging out railroadties along toe way.
Bernard Karcher, 46 South Ave., Haysville, was awake at the time of the accident. “I was at the door and saw the hot wheels. I could see sparks go up on my roof. Hie sparks were shooting out like Roman Candles on the Fourth of July,”
Karcher said. Karcher said after ne checked to see if any of the sparks had set his roof on fire lie heard a “shussh” like ' one of the hoses breaking. It was then he heard the crash.
Although there were no injuries, battered up covered-hopper cars clogged all four tracks, and one of toe cars fell into the Ohio River. Chewed-up railroad ties and twisted rail lay strewn about, piles of cereal grain covered much of toe scene.
ConRail crews cleared one of toe tracks by Sunday evening, and two others were opened on Monday. Exact figures were unavailable, but a ConRail spokesman estimated damage to be many thousands of dollars.
/
Haysville petitions
to phase out crossing
Haysville residents signed petitions to modify toe South Avenue railroad crossing following Sunday morning’s train accident in Glenfield,
Bernard Karcher, 46 South Ave., collected 33 signatures on a petition calling for elimination of the Haysville Crossing and replacing it with a viaduct. Karcher said residente of Osborne's flats district would also be invited to sign toe petition being sent to U.S. Congressman Doug Walgren.
“We’re getting this petition because we were locked in if it could have been a dangerous chemical spill,” Karcher said. The long-time Haysville resident said he witnessed a train accident in Kiskiminitas, Pa. involving an ammonia tank car.
“I own two houses here, and it’s too dangerous for me to live here. When I heard toe accident, I looked for the keys to
my boat. Then I thought, that wouldn’t help my neighbors," Karcher said.
Won't change plans
William Marra, owner of the former Sewickley elementary school property, said Thursday, May 11, he is not interested in paring down his senior citizens’ housing proposal to conform to the Sewickley Planning Commission’s recommendations to Sewickley Council. “No-go,” he said when asked if he would change his plans.
Marra said he felt the Commission, whose primary function is to protect toe health, safety and welfare of the community, had exceeded its authority.
Marra is president of Wilmar Properties, Inc,, owners of the Brittainy, Normandy and Linden Place Apartments, The company is one of Sewickley’s biggest taxpayer.
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