Tube City Almanac

February 11, 2009

Unplanned Move to City Irks Former W.O. Residents

Category: News || By


Did you ever hear the story of the house that moved from White Oak to McKeesport without budging an inch?

The O'Neil Boulevard home of Rich Tyree and Carol Scott next to Founders' Hall Middle School and the old Vocational-Technical High School is a tiny island of old Versailles Township that was never officially annexed to the city before the incorporation of White Oak Borough in 1948.

Though surrounded by the city on all sides and about a half-mile from the White Oak border, the former Kemp mansion was therefore still legally part of Versailles Township and was long treated as a part of White Oak.

Now, the U.S. Census Bureau and Allegheny County want the home annexed to the city of McKeesport --- and Tyree told city council last week that it's not fair.

"Respectfully, when you buy into a community, you buy into a community," Tyree told council.

Although the city and White Oak share a school district, sewer system, post office and other amenities, Tyree pointed out that payroll taxes are higher in McKeesport (1.2 percent vs. 0.5 in the borough), and city residents must pay extra to use White Oak's Heritage Pool.

. . .

But a few city officials are already smarting over what they perceive as a snobbish or patronizing attitude from some White Oak residents. Several White Oak council members last year suggested dumping the name of the McKeesport Area School District because of what they called the city's "bad image," and at least one member of White Oak council was a vocal proponent of changing the name of Penn State's McKeesport Campus.

(One city councilman has started referring to the borough as "Upper St. White Oak," in reference to the South Hills township regarded as an enclave of the well-to-do.)

That's why tempers quickly flared and Mayor Jim Brewster and some councilors took offense to Tyree's remarks that he doesn't want to live in McKeesport.

A few pointed out that when the Tyree-Scott house caught fire in November 2007, McKeesport firefighters extinguished the blaze.

"I don't think the city initiated the (annexation) process," Councilman Darryl Segina said. "It's a freak thing that happened. There's no reason why (the house) can't be part of McKeesport."

"You would feel different if it happened to you," Tyree replied.

. . .

So-called "county islands" are common in western and southern states where unincorporated communities become part of the larger county, and municipalities grow up around them by annexing surrounding land.

Some states also allow non-contiguous annexations --- unincorporated land that becomes built up can be annexed to a nearby city in order to receive city services, even when it doesn't touch that city's borders.

But Pennsylvania law does not allow unincorporated land or island annexations and discourages creation of municipalities without "adjacent," "compact" and "contiguous" borders. This raises the question why the old Kemp house was left out of the city of McKeesport when the surrounding land was annexed.*

. . .

The paperwork to move the parcel formally into the city limits has been pending since 1999 --- before the 2000 U.S. Census --- but officials said the administration of former Mayor Wayne Kucich failed to take any formal action.

The county has now apparently moved forward in anticipation of the 2010 Census. The decennial federal Boundary and Annexation Survey is already underway.

The parcel's status has apparently been in legal limbo for some time. On county records, it's numbered in sequence with the city's deeds, not White Oak's, and state officials consider the house part of the city; an official state map of White Oak issued in 2004 shows no sign of the parcel.

But the parcel is still shown on a White Oak zoning map last updated that same year.

It's also not the only parcel stranded inside the city of McKeesport by past annexations, according to City Administrator Dennis Pittman. A piece of vacant land near Route 48 was legally part of Versailles Borough but also was surrounded on all sides by the city limits; it's also been annexed to the city.

Scott bought the home from the Kemp heirs in 2002 for $135,000, according to county tax records.

Those same records indicate that the Scott parcel is legally part of the city of McKeesport.

. . .

Tyree said he and Scott object to what he called a lack of due process, and a lack of notification before Scott bought the house that its legal status as part of White Oak was in question.

Segina called for all sides to work together and move forward. "It was the federal government that initiated the process," he said. "So all I can say is, 'Welcome to McKeesport.'"

There was no word on whether Scott or Tyree might pursue further legal action. An attempt to reach them by telephone this week was not successful.

. . .

UPDATE: (Updated Friday morning, Feb. 13, 2009.) Upon further review, nothing in the state borough or township codes seems to expressly forbid creation of a municipality without contiguous borders.

In fact, White Oak is not the only Allegheny County municipality divided into more than one section. O'Hara Township is in three different pieces separated by Blawnox and Fox Chapel boroughs.

According to state law, if "the lands of any person" of a township or borough are cut off by annexation of the surrounding territory, the surrounding municipality may annex the orphaned piece.

Before it can be annexed, however, a petition has to be filed in "the court of quarter sessions," and it has to be signed by "a majority in number of the freeholders in the territory to be detached" from the original municipality.

That suggests that this dispute deserves an airing in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, the successor to the court of quarter sessions. (Disclaimer: Nothing in Tube City Almanac is to be construed as legal advice.)



* --- This sentence was reworded slightly after this story's original publication.






Your Comments are Welcome!

FWIW, my wife says that as kids going to school they referred to that property as Nimrod Acres. I’m not sure who told me this, but the story I got was that when the City was looking for a site for a new high school, this area came up for consideration. The property owners were willing to sell, but a condition of the sale was that the property left around the house not be annexed, and it became (or remained) part of White Oak.

On a broader basis, this problem of unincorporated enclaves is not limited to the Keystone state. The city I work in here in Maryland still has one true enclave, just like the Kemp site, and another near-enclave. The latter is not an enclave only because the county controls about a half-mile of road that connects to the rest of the county. The City of Gaithersburg also had a couple of enclaves as well. I think the state law was changed to ban creation of such enclaves back in the 1960’s, but they couldn’t make the law retroactive and force people who did not want to be annexed to accept it. I does create some strage administrative issues.
ebtnut - February 12, 2009



Good anecdote, but the “new” high school was built in 1960. That land was already part of the city by then. White Oak was created in 1948 and Eden Park Borough was annexed to the city in 1952.
Webmaster - February 12, 2009



Jason,

As a friend of the Kemps, I have long since been told of the original landowner (pre-Kemp) and his desire to keep his own residence out of McKeesport when he donated the land. I can’t remeber the owners name. Maybe you can dig that up. Rumor had it he was some sort of loan shark.

Kemps purchased the property in the late 70’s I believe and after remodeling, moved into it in the early 80’s.

I have nothing against the couple living there and I do understand their feelings. If I were them, I’d probably be against a tax increase and a higher fee to swim at White Oak pool.

By the same token, I don’t recall any complaints from them when our Full-Time Paid Fire Department (located maybe 1/2 from their house) saved their structure as it burnt a few years ago.

Likewise, since they are surrounded by a higher crime area than White Oak, I’m sure that they can appreciate having a police force with half a dozen or so cars on patrol rather than one or two cars that patrol White Oak and just may be busy in Versailles…..

Need I mention that although O’Neill Blvd is for some strange reason, a county road, we are under contract and keep it clear in the winter. Should we not salt outside of his residence and have White Oak Public Works come over and take care of it? Does White Oak still have Public Works?

By the way, if you are looking for some old comments about White Oak Council’s desire for a school district name change, I believe that you can find some old ones on my web-site or the letter to the editor I used to emaciate them in the Daily News. Don’t even get me started on the changing of my alma-mater Penn State MCKEESPORT to Penn State I Am An Island Unto Myself or whatever that they likewise supported in our suburb of White Oak.

I for one am waiting with baited breath for the day Municiplaities are consolidated and they fall under our ghetto rule.

Forgive the sarcasm in my response. My issues are with the White Oak elite and not Mr. Tyree who seems like a good person with legitimate concerns.

My point is that the Waqe tax increase is a small price to pay for better services

Paul Shelly, McKeesport City Council
Paul Shelly (URL) - February 13, 2009



Maybe the city can buy the property and then buy one of equal value in “The Oaks”
Thee Dude - February 13, 2009



Oops, let me rephrase that….Maybe the city can use emminent domain and give the owners the money equivlant to value of the home, who can then use the money to buy a home of equal value in Upper St. White Oak? Then that property can be turned into a playground or something?
Thee dude - February 13, 2009



Dude, if you’re donating the money, then call city hall. Otherwise, that seems unlikely.
Webmaster - February 13, 2009



There’s a simple solution to the school situation: White Oak should pull its money and resources out of McKeesport and merge with South Allegheny. Everyone gets what they want. SA can have an additional tax base and White Oakians…or Oakers…or Oakleys or whatever the hell can have a school that doesn’t have that HORRIBLE stigma that comes with the word, “McKeesport” Oh, woe is me.

This stuff makes me giggle. White Oak’s cleaner and safer than McKeesport, but lets not go crazy here, no ones exactly fighting for homes there either.
Wlater Sobchak - February 13, 2009



I would, but I am still paying off the credit card debt my wife accumulated from Christmas shopping (I think her and her mother postponed the closing of Century III by a few months). :) If the county can build a 3-million dollar bike ramp to access the Riverton Bridge, surely old Dan-O can buy a fire-damaged house…but I digress :p
Thee Dude - February 13, 2009



When these folks bought thier house, did they honestly believe it was in White Oak? I mean, White oak has already stretched its boundry to the very edge of Giant Eagles parking lot with a WELCOME to UPPER ST WHITE OAK sign. Did they think the school that says MCKEESPORT on it in the front yard was a mirage? This house is and always should be part of McKeesport. Anyone who has attended McKeesport High school since 1960 knows this house. As Mr Shelly pointed out, does a White OAk police car stop by now and then like Andy Grffith to check on things? Do thier recycling bins have a big oak leaf on them? Geez, this is big historic structure, if it were in White Oak, it would be a doctors office or something by now…
Adam - February 14, 2009



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