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Politics & Government

Controversial Plum Housing Plan Approved by Planning Commission

Plum Borough Planning Commision approved the site plan for a proposed senior Plum Heights development despite opposition from nearby residents.

A development proposal for senior citizen housing along Repp Road will progress despite resistance from Plum residents.

Plum Planning Commission approved developer a.m. Rodriguez Associates' final subdivision request unanimously and site plan and conditional use request with a 4-3 vote for Plum Heights at its Monday night meeting.

Opposing votes came from Martin DeGore, Paul DeSabato and Robert Kalichuk.

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Plum Heights, a housing complex featuring a four-story, 58-unit apartment building and additional townhouses, is proposed for property near the Route 909 intersection. Forty-nine of the apartment units are slated for low-income residents.

Residents expressed concern about the low-income units, road traffic volume and property value for surrounding properties.

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Lynda Frazetta, of Plum, said when a.m. Rodriguez Associates first proposed the apartment plan, the proposal was not presented as a low-income property.

"There's a misrepresentation of what this property was initially presented as and what it has developed into," said Rachel Troy, of Ridgewood Court in Plum.

Those involved with the Plum Heights construction said the units were not Section 8 housing, but were for people qualified as earning a low-income according to the Fair Housing Authority, with incomes usually ranging between $20,000 and $30,000.  

"If low-income is so good, why doesn't the builder live there for 10 years," said John Lauffer, of Coxcomb Hill Road in Plum.

Plum Heights architect Laura Nettleton said Plum residents misunderstand the project's target occupants. She said "low-income" does not mean a group of strangers from other communities will be moving into Plum.

"It is housing designed to serve the poorest residents already in the community," Nettleton said

All occupants are screened for approval to move in, Nettleton said.

Nettleton offered to take a bus of residents to view one of the completed a.m. Rodriguez senior housing projects in White Oak and Carnegie to ease concerns.

"We're not moving some problem into your neighborhood," vice president Victor Rodriguez said.

"We do this because there's a need out there, and we think we can do it better than anyone else," he said.

Addressing concerns of property value decrease, Rodriguez said his company has never built a project that brought down property value.

"This is not a filibuster," planning commission chairman Robert Zunich said to Plum residents.

Planning commission members cannot approve or disapprove a housing project based on its being low-income housing, he said.

"If [developers] comply with the law, we generally grant their request," he said.

Although community members are encouraged to speak during public forums, the opinions were useless in the determination of the housing plan legality, DeGore said.

"Their opinions are off of emotion instead of factual," DeSabato said.

Planning commission members said a traffic engineer said there will be no appreciable increase in traffic volume due to this project, and that there is not enough space to consider widening the street to include more lanes.

There has not been a proposed change for signaling at the intersection either.

The planning commission made the site plan approval contingent on eight conditions listed by borough planning director Greg Bachy.

The conditions state that the developers needed to clearly draw out the first two phases of the apartment proposals, to begin no road work on Repp Road until approved by borough and to address hillside and grading concerns.

The property line adjacent to Ramparts townhouses must be clearly delineated, and the developers must provide a clear hydraulic analysis.

Developers have until Jan. 3 to meet the conditions before Plum Borough Council can vote on the plan.

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