Council Rejects Halfway House Application

Your Comments are Welcome!

Jason,

Excellent coverage. I have long been a proponent of zoning the area near Mckeesport Hospital a “social services” area and relocating all of our many valuable programs there. I love our social services and their staffs BUT, they do not need to be DOWNTOWN!!!! The hospital provides many services to these same folks and the moving of existing services there would encourage (at least not discourage) businesses from locating and people shopping dahn-tahn.

I’d be curious to hear what your readers think about this idea.

Dennis Pittman liked it two years ago (or more) when I intoriduced it to him and I believe that he is the brightest bulb we have.

The Mayor and Council may oppose it due to the source of the idea but hey…

Wouldn’t be the first time.

I know we have the power to designate sections of town for strip clubs if we wish. We need to check with jason Elash about the legality of doing the same for social services.

Thanks to all of those that helpoed Tracy, mary Ann Huck and myself in blocking this BAD idea (the halfway house).

Your friend and councilman,

Paul
Paul "Sluggo" Shelly Jr. (URL) - June 04, 2009

I think the City Council did the right thing. But there should be no such thing as a [conditional use]. Why have a Zoning Code at all if all you need to do is get a [conditional use] to get something in. I think the city is already saturated with social services, and their location should not be encouraged downtown or near the hospital.

• — Editor’s note: this comment was edited to correct a mistake in the original story. Edited words are in brackets: [ ]

I’m with John on the technical stuff. Use [exceptions] essentially undercut the intent of the zoning code to provide some degree of certainty as to what will occur in the various zoning districts. Not being intimately familiar with McKeesport’s zoning ordinance (yet!), maybe what you term a [conditional use] is what we would call a special exception – uses that may be allowed if they meet certain conditions limiting potential impact on the surrounding neighborhood. Question – is the City zoning code on-line?

• — Editor’s note: this comment was edited to correct a mistake in the original story. Edited words are in brackets: [ ]

OK, first I need to make a slight correction, and this is my mistake. I apologize.

A “conditional use” and a “variance” are for practical purposes the same, but legally are slightly different.

I conflated the two in this story, and I apologize.

Per the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code, a “conditional use” means the community imposes conditions in exchange for allowing an exception to the zoning code.

A “variance” is an exception to the zoning code granted because developing a particular property is too difficult under the existing zoning.

This was a “conditional use” application, and I’ve corrected the story to reflect that.
Webmaster - June 05, 2009

(Comment deleted)

Editor’s Note:

Mr. Shelly, I’m sorry, but any more “campaign speeches” will be deleted.

There are other forums available for that.

Also, I going to allow this website to deteriorate into a series of attacks — anonymous and otherwise — of one political faction against another.

Jason Togyer
Executive Director
Tube City Community Media Inc.
Paul Shelly Jr (URL) - June 05, 2009

Bravo Jason, congrats for keeping this a positive forum. I was reading recently in the Washington Post about the troubles for auto workers in Michigan. Reminded me very much of the troubles the Mon Valley went through 25 years ago. Is there an article there somewhere about the parallels? At least it would get you out of the local politics business for a while…
Dan - June 08, 2009

This is a few days late, I suppose, but a further bit of clarification:
Conditional uses and special exceptions are written into the language of the Zoning Ordinance. It is important to remember that both are considered, in the eye of the law, permitted uses, they are just not permitted “by right.” (i.e. with no conditions). BOTH conditional and special exception uses have conditions attached to them. Both categories are intended to encompass uses that, if certain conditions are met (i.e., an increased amount of off-parking, special setbacks or vegetative requirements, etc.) are not necessarily going to harm the intent of the district, i.e. the integrity of the neighborhood.

The difference is that conditional uses are heard and decided by City Council, while special exceptions are decided before the quasi-judicial Zoning Hearing Board. Conditional uses are meant for uses which, if permitted, may have a greater impact on the community. That is, that may affect more than one neighborhood. This is why Council hears them. Special exceptions are usually smaller in impact, and typically will not greatly affect the neighborhood; they just need a few extra parameters (say, a home-based business in a residential neighborhood).

Variances, on the other hand, are a completely different matter. They are not written into the text of the Ordinance, and are heard on a case by case basis by the ZHB. There are five specific criteria a landowner must fulfill in order to prove that a “hardship” is being placed upon him or her by the Ordinance. Variances, theoretically, should be rare, and, it is important to note, are NOT based on economic hardship, only hardship of the land.

It should also be noted that the ZHB is, as I stated before, a quasi-judicial body and its decisions hold the weight of the rule of law. Testimonies are given under oath by applicant, Zoning Officer, and solicitor, as well as property owners who may be impacted by the decision. Special exceptions are typically the preferred method of controlling a use, as (no offense) Council can be overly political and there have been instances in other communities of Councils making a decision against a conditional use simply because the Zoning Ordinance was written under the jurisdiction of a rival Council member.

You can research it, but nearly every community in this region with a Zoning Ordinance handles group homes as a special exception. This is primarily because it is an intense use for a residential district. In an older neighborhood where streets are narrow, parking for employees, visitors, medical staff, etc. can become a problem. Lighting, noise levels, and trash disposal (Dumpster locations, screening of Dumpsters, etc.) can also be a concern. It’s not meant to harm the service group homes provide, but just control how and where it goes so that homeowners are protected.

Just a few points of legal clarification.
mvg - June 09, 2009

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