Concerns over proposed zoning changes swept quiet Crafton last summer, igniting social media feuds and sending residents spilling into council chambers.
That sudden backlash — driven by fears of overcrowding, parking scarcity and plummeting property values — prompted borough leaders to slow the process and seek more community input. The Planning Commission has since made substantive changes in line with that feedback, such as scrapping a provision to allow new accessory dwelling units (ADUs) – sometimes called granny flats – and prohibiting short-term rentals in residential zones. Tonight, council is set to settle an issue eight-years in the making, as members vote on a final proposal.
Borough Manager Jim Price said the additional time and oversight from the Planning Commission alleviated fears for many residents, as their concerns were addressed, or they gained a better understanding through engaging with the process.
“Overall, we have definitely lowered the temperature of concern, but there are still people out there who don’t like the process, and I don’t think there’s anything we could ever do about that,” Price said, adding that the remaining opponents are “not a large contingent.”
One of those holdouts, Cody Sheets, continues to issue spirited public comments and even made a run for mayor in part on a platform of transparency and increased community engagement. After winning the Republican primary as a write-in, Sheets lost the general to Democratic incumbent Coletta Perry.
He said despite the extended Planning Commission process, borough officials did not address key concerns and didn’t heed a petition for an impact study that garnered 133 signatures.
“As it stands today, Borough Council will vote this ordinance through — regardless of constituent concerns, regardless of the petition, and regardless of whether residents feel heard,” Sheets said in an email statement.
Price said the borough opted against an impact study because they are not feasible for zoning changes.
Housing pressures have made zoning a hot topic across the region, state and nation, as local leaders try to balance the competing interests of development, conservation and housing security.
Crafton is rolling out the zoning changes alongside other initiatives intended to attract business, Price said, including a new website and marketing campaign and efforts to digitize their permitting processes. Other measures, such as business tax incentives have been floated, but not yet formally proposed, he added.
The primary goals of the zoning changes are to modernize outdated definitions and to encourage more businesses in the town’s commercial centers, Price said, to counteract decades of disinvestment and build up a stronger tax base so homeowners aren’t hit with higher property rates.
Key changes include:
- Smaller lot size requirements in the main Residential zone
- Fewer restrictions for townhouse construction in the Community Residential Zone
- Multi-family units and apartments permitted in newly created Transit and Mixed Use zones.
Price stressed the zoning laws, if approved, will not necessarily prompt an influx of development, because market forces need to come too.
“Nothing might change for 10 years,” he said, adding that the borough will keep “doing what we can as a government to make it clear that Crafton wants to encourage business to move here.”
Jamie Wiggan is deputy editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at jamie@publicsource.org.
This article first appeared on Pittsburgh’s Public Source and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Be First to Comment