The next round in what could prove to be a lengthy battle to rebuild a controversial public housing development is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27, before the Borough of McKees Rocks Zoning Board.
The board will consider a zoning appeal application submitted by Pennrose LLC, which is asking for a pair of variances – one pertaining to off-street parking and the other to some landscaping requirements – that are part of its effort to redevelop the former Hays Manor property.
Hays Manor previously consisted of 138 housing units spread over several three-story buildings constructed around 1950. Over the years, the units fell into disrepair and ultimately were razed, with the last bits of demolition work finished fairly recently.
Now, Pennrose, a Philadelphia-based affordable housing developer, is working the Allegheny County Housing Authority and Falbo Group LLC – a Pittsburgh-based developer – to bring housing back to the site, but this time on a smaller scale.
The prospect of seeing another housing project on that site has some McKees Rocks residents seeing red, as they say the community already has more than its share of public housing projects.
But Pennrose and the county Housing Authority, the latter of which would manage the project after it’s built, contend the new Hays Manor won’t resemble the old barracks-style neighborhood either architecturally or the way it’s managed.
In terms of architecture, the partners are proposing to build 50 units across 10 buildings that would be developed with low-income housing tax credits and reserved for households earning less than 50% of area median income – or approximately $58,000 annually. Slightly more than 60% of the units – 31 – would be two-bedroom while six would be one-bedroom and 13 three-bedroom.
According to Pennrose, preference would be given to former Hays Manor residents “who are in good standing and wish to return.” Residents would pay no more than 30% of their adjusted household income to rent the units.
Christian Dambly of Pennrose said the previous Hays Manor development contained small, inefficient units in a layout that didn’t promote a sense of community.
“We’re proposing to de-densify the site into a more walkable community designed from an architectural perspective and a site planning perspective to be more cohesive with the surrounding community,” he said.
Dambly said all 50 units would have their own individual front doors and private space in backyards “to help create a sense of ownership not present previously. It also promotes more of a community feel – the walkability helps tie the community to the surrounding neighborhood so it doesn’t look and feel as isolated as the prior development.”
Rich Stephenson, the county Housing Authority executive director, said he’s well aware that many community residents are opposed to yet another housing project in McKees Rocks, given that the borough already is home to three ACHA family communities.
But Stephenson said the Housing Authority’s focus now is to help people “graduate” from depending on public housing by giving them tools to transition to self-sufficiency. In fact, he said if the Hays Manor project comes to fruition, residents would have access to financial literacy and “self-sufficiency” training. Stephenson also said as residents increased their income, some of it would be put in a savings/escrow account that could be used to buy their own home in the future.
“It will give people an incentive to increase their income,” he said.
Stephenson said that while some public housing units have not been well-maintained, Hays Manor would be different.
“Fair market rents that will be paid will always increase based on inflation so that properties can be maintained,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing we have to overcome with community leaders.
“All public housing is new at one time, but if rents don’t increase with inflation, they fall into disrepair. That will never happen with these properties.”
Dambly said there’s an important distinction between so-called public housing and affordable housing, and the new Hays Manor, he said, would fall into the latter category.
“There will be a working preference,” he said, “ensuring that residents living there are working and paying tax dollars to the borough and the school district that neither have received previously.”
Some McKees Rocks residents don’t buy that.
The Rev. James Hogan, pastor of the Faithbridge Community Church, said he’s heard other promises made regarding another McKees Rocks ACHA community – Meyers Ridge.
“It was supposed to be a mixed-income (development),” said Hogan, who bought a house adjacent to the project. “It’s not. It’s all low-income.
“They promised it would be safe and kept clean. That’s all out the window. It’s a dump. They don’t live up to any of their promises. They say they’ll do better this time but I’m totally opposed to bringing (Hays Manor) in. They’re just going to lie again.”
Hogan said McKees Rocks has shouldered more than its share of the public housing load and shouldn’t be asked to handle one more project.
“This town has more government-imposed low-income housing than any other town in Pennsylvania,” he said. “This should be an absolute ‘no.’”
With regard to the idea that new Hays Manor residents might be able to put money away and eventually “graduate” to buy their own homes, Hogan said there would be nothing to stop them from buying a home somewhere other than McKees Rocks.
“How does that help us?” Hogan asked. “You’re going to help them buy a house in another town, and then someone else will move in and suck resources from the community.”
Maribeth Taylor, who served on the borough council from 2008 to 2020, said she is not opposed to low-income housing but said the county should put such projects in communities that are in better economic shape than McKees Rocks.
“Put them in communities to give people the opportunity to rise above – in communities that have good school districts where kids are not getting into crime,” she said. “In places where they have opportunities to find jobs.”
Taylor said she doesn’t believe the project could even legally be built on the property that housed the previous Hays Manor project because she said that land was rezoned for commercial use in 2009. That should automatically exclude the new development from moving forward, she said.
Hogan, who serves on the borough Zoning Board – which will hear Pennrose’s variance request Wednesday — agreed with Taylor and said it might come down to attorneys arguing over that rezoning claim to determine whether the new Hays Manor can be built.
Taylor said she’s convinced the rezoning did take place and provided a signed ordinance, dated Aug. 11, 2009, to back her claim. Since then, she said, the property has never been rezoned a second time to accommodate a residential project. She said almost all of the key borough officials have turned over during the past 16 years and they might not realize the zoning was changed to commercial in 2009.
“I have recently brought it to some people’s attention,” she said. “But I don’t know where they’re going with it.”
Dambly, though, said it’s his understanding that the project property falls within an R-3 zoning designation, which would allow for multifamily residential. “That was outlined in a letter the borough wrote to us that we included in our application for tax credits last year,” he said.
That letter to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, dated Dec. 8, 2023, and signed by Bobby J. Thompson, the borough’s building code official and code enforcement officer, simply states: “The proposed Hays Manor Redevelopment Phase 1 is permitted by right in the Residential-3 District (R-3) in which it is located.”
Pennrose also issued a brief statement last week, saying it was reviewing the ordinance in question with its land use attorney “and evaluating next steps to bring new high-quality mixed-income housing to McKees Rocks.”
Taris Vrcek, executive director of the McKees Rocks Community Development Corp., said he’s not sure what the zoning status is, and referred that question to borough officials. Archie Brinza, the borough council president, failed to return several phone calls. Megan Turnbull, the borough’s solicitor, said she would respond after getting direction from the borough but never did.
Vrcek acknowledges the bid to bring back Hays Manor is a “very complex issue.” He said there are former Hays Manor residents who grew up there and lived there for many years who probably have a lot of pride in their former neighborhood.
“On the other hand, you have some very real issues that the properties themselves had been outdated for decades and needed to be re-thought,” he said. “And then you have other residents who have seen a lot of the downside of the volume of public housing that has been placed in McKees Rocks and also sometimes attributing too much of the community’s decline to that.
“Clearly there’s been an impact. What’s inescapable is when you think about four public housing developments or projects — or whatever you want to call them – happening within one school district, that’s unprecedented. I think everyone would agree you need high-quality affordable housing for all. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it.”
Vrcek said there has been a lot of violent crimes and other serious issues that have occurred in McKees Rocks “because serious problems haven’t been addressed.” But he said new leadership at the county Housing Authority and the authority’s willingness to partner with the local community is bringing about an opportunity for change.
Taylor, though, remains unconvinced that the public-private partnership between Pennrose and the Housing Authority will bear fruit for the community. In fact, she said she’s convinced the proponents of the new Hays Manor chose McKees Rocks for another housing project “because they think no one in McKees Rocks will stand up and fight.”
“It enrages me that people think they can roll over a community that is suffering so badly right now,” she said.
Hogan, who won’t be able to attend Wednesday’s Zoning Board hearing because he’ll be out of the country, said the board shouldn’t even consider the variance request because of the residential vs. commercial zoning question. If the board does hear the variance request, Hogan said he’ll step down – but he won’t give up.
“I’m going to fight for this town,” he said. “I’ve got connections who will go to war on this.”
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