A request to rezone property to make way for more soccer fields near the existing AHN Montour Sports Complex has run into a bureaucratic blocked shot.
The Robinson Township Board of Commissioners, at its monthly meeting last week, denied the rezoning request submitted by Friends of Pittsburgh Professional Soccer, which wants to develop seven soccer fields, parking, buildings and driveways on a 78-acre parcel near Groveton.
The property is currently zoned for general industrial use (I-2), but recreational facilities aren’t allowed in that zoning. So, the group asked the board to change the I-2 zoning to S-1, or special riverfront development district, which allows for recreational facilities, public or nonprofit.
Commissioners had little to say at the April 7 meeting before they voted to deny the request, but the matter had come before them at the previous month’s meeting and also came to the township’s Planning Commission in March.
There, the proponents were told that if the township rezoned the property, it could open a major legal can of worms because it essentially would be erasing its only general industrial zoning. If that were the case, township Solicitor Jack Cambest said at the meeting, the township would risk having an unconstitutional map.
Cambest said the Planning Commission’s hands were legally tied, given the situation. The commission, which does not make binding decisions, recommended that the Board of Commissioners deny the rezoning request, and they voted 4-0 to do so on April 7. Commissioner James Barefoot was absent.
Cambest said last week that a township zoning ordinance must provide for all legitimate businesses, and industrial uses would be considered legitimate businesses. Without property zoned for general industrial use, someone with a legitimate project that falls under general industrial zoning guidelines could force the township to make room for that project in an area not set up to accommodate industrial uses.
“That would cause ripples,” Cambest said.
Todd Radolec, the Friends of Pittsburgh Professional Soccer’s spokesman, said last week he was surprised at the commissioners’ stance but indicated his group would not stop pursuing the project.
“There are other steps that will be explored,” he said. “There will be continued discussion with the township.”
Radolec said the reason he was surprised is that township’s comprehensive plan – a document that states basic objectives and policies that guide future growth and development, according to the state Department of Community & Economic Development – calls for the property in question to be developed “in a recreational sports manner.”
“It’s been identified as one of the key components of the (comprehensive) plan adopted by the commissioners a few years back,” Radolec said. “Everybody’s vision and the opportunities that the area and the property provide, I just think it would be a good thing for the community.
“When you look at the needs and the economic impacts, especially with a community like that, it’s a good thing.”
Radolec said the property in question is “an old, abandoned railroad yard that has sat vacant for many years. I would like to think seven soccer fields would look a little better than an abandoned railroad yard.”
Ron Shiwarski, the Board of Commissioners chairman, said last week he voted to deny the rezoning request for numerous reasons, including the concerns of area residents, parking issues that he said the proponents didn’t adequately address and concerns with possible flooding issues.
“I don’t believe the allotted parking would be sufficient for the special events and tournaments the fields hope to attract, creating overflow parking seeping onto the neighborhood streets and falling on the township to enforce parking violations,” Shiwarski wrote in an emailed response.
Shiwarski said the project wouldn’t generate much additional tax revenue for the township, at least in the near term, because there aren’t many nearby businesses in Robinson. The existing AHN Montour Sports Complex is just across the border in Coraopolis Borough.
The not-for-profit Friends of Pittsburgh Professional Soccer wants to expand the AHN Montour Sports Complex, but Robinson commissioners denied their rezoning request last week. (Photo courtesy of AHN Montour Sports Complex)
Friends of Pittsburgh Professional Soccer is a not-for-profit entity formed in 2016 whose mission is to “connect youth to nontraditional sports through scholarships and facility development,” according to its website.
The group already has made major headway in that area, as it worked with the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County to develop the existing AHN Montour Sports Complex, which has two outdoor fields in addition to indoor facilities. That complex opened in 2022.
The proposed expansion has raised the ire of a number of area residents who say the additional fields would bring unwanted traffic, noise and other issues to what they say is now a quiet residential neighborhood.
Tara Curcio, who lives near the proposed expansion, said some of the neighborhood streets are very narrow, particularly Elizabeth Street. “Once you’re there, there’s only one way in and one way out,” she said. “Our roads barely fit two cars. We all play the game where you have to stop and let one person go. We all do it. But we’re used to it – we know how to handle it.”
Those visiting from out of town for a soccer tournament, though, might not, Curcio said.
Township Commissioner Ken Kisow, who lives in the area, said Elizabeth Street is the only road in Robinson with a 40-foot right-of-way, and it could not handle the heavy truck traffic required to develop the property.
He also has an issue with the proponent’s parking plans.
“You can’t squish seven fields on a piece of ground that has no parking,” he said. “People will end up parking on the road and that has a 40-foot right-of-way.
“We’re not against the fields. Just do it properly.”
Curcio, though, believes allowing Friends of Pittsburgh Professional Soccer to develop the property would bring more problems than it would benefits.
Curcio said she’s particularly concerned about the fields being located too close to some of the homes. “How they’re setting the fields up will be right up against my neighbors,” said. “They would be able to see through everyone’s yards. That raises a concern for me. I am the mother of three daughters. I have privacy right now in my neighborhood. Once they put those fields in, I’ll have zero privacy.”
Curcio acknowledged that her neighborhood has its share of noise from truck traffic, the nearby rail line and boats on the Ohio River. But she said seven additional soccer fields and the events they attract will generate a different kind of noise.
“We’re not hearing music and people yelling and screaming,” she said. “You get used to the train sounds. Now you’re going to ask people who’ve been here how long to get used to way more noise, way more traffic and crowds of people. It’s kind of not fair.”
Shane Herring, who lives near the proposed project, said in a social media post that if there was an influx of traffic and no alternative way in and out, he might not be able to get to and from his house.
“The road is simply not built for commercial traffic,” he wrote. “If they put in a light of some kind and the entrance was on Coraopolis Road/(Route) 51, I could maybe get behind the economic boost, and soccer fields are certainly better than other options of development. But routing traffic through our small neighborhood is, in my opinion, unacceptable.”
A Lewis Avenue resident wrote on Facebook that before she could support the project she would need to see sidewalks in the area and a better intersection at Route 51.
“That being said, if this project was between soccer fields or a shopping center, I’d pick the fields any day.”
Excellent coverage of a complex issue that has significance beyond what many citizens may understand or even care about. There is a situation of similar difficulties where I live that also stands to diminish the quality of life for residents, and where the most recent comprehensive plan is incongruous with the reality of living in the area affected. Thanks for showing that these lesser-known components of local government do matter…a lot.
As a secondary note, this is not the first time that zoning and use issues have cropped up at the Montour Junction complex. In 2022 the Coraopolis Zoning Hearing Board (later joined by the borough) was involved in legal action with the property owner over the use of the complex by Revival Today Church for services. After litigation in 2023 and 2024 that went in favor of the borough, the church found an alternative location for services. This rendered the Coraopolis action moot, while dropping the church and other questionable land uses squarely in the lap of Moon Township.