Treesdale Residents Oppose New Grading Permit for Wexford Farms

The banging rear gates on dump trucks, the vibrations that set Treesdale residents' nerves on edge and the dust that coated their backyards are gone now.

Work has stopped on the Wexford Farms parcel at the corner of Pearce Mill and Warrendale roads in Pine Township where contractor Joseph B. Fay Co.'s trucks dumped dirt and more from the Pennsylvania Turnpike construction project.

What's left is a group of 18 Treesdale families who are fighting a permit application from Wexford Farms that would allow all of that to start up again if Joseph B. Fay Co. is allowed to use the site to dump fill dirt and more from other nearby construction projects. 

The group of homeowners, led by South Lake Drive resident Ann Hynds, has taken its case before Pine's board of supervisors, the planning commission and, most recently, the township's zoning hearing board.

Chairman Scott D. Cessar explained that the zoning hearing board has the power to determine if something is not in accordance with the zoning code.

Hynds and fellow Treesdale residents testified for most of the 2-hour 45-minute hearing Tuesday that the site for which a grading permit was issued three years ago became much more than a place to dump fill dirt from the Pennsylvania Turnpike project.

She referred to it as a "waste area" and argued that such an operation violates the township's zoning code and is inappropriate for a residential area. Hynds and other residents testified about what is on the site and showed photos of concrete, jersey barriers, rebar, pieces of asphalt and parked construction vehicles there.

Pine Township solicitor Gary Gushard argued at the start of the proceedings that the residents' appeal was untimely.

The grading permit, which originally was granted to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and then transferred to contractor Joseph B. Fay Co., expired in the fall.

Conversely, the application for a new grading permit from landowner Wexford Farms has not been approved or denied yet, Gushard said, so an appeal is premature.

A previous permit application from Joseph B. Fay Co. was denied earlier this year because it was incomplete.

Representatives from Wexford Farms and Joseph B. Fay Co. were not present at Tuesday's hearing.

At the end of the evening, zoning board Cessar announced that the hearing would be continued on March 14, the day after the deadline for the permit to be approved or denied.

If the permit is approved, the Treesdale group will appeal the decision. Denial of the permit would make the issue a moot point.

Pine Township will have the opportunity to present its case on March 14.

Cessar encouraged Larry Kurpakus, the township's code adminstration and land development director, to inform representatives of Joseph B. Fay Co. and Wexford Farms about the March 14 hearing.

The Testimony

During the hearing, Hynds provided the zoning board members with a stack of documents and used Google Earth slides to show them images of Wexford Farms from 1993 to the present. She said it showed the property's "transformation to an industrial complex".

Although the Turnpike project is over, Hynds said the contractor is storing concrete and other materials at the Wexford Farms site to use for a future project on Pearce Mill Road and perhaps other projects.

"This is a waste-and-borrow site," Hynds said.

Asked by zoning board member Robert Mercuri for specifics, Hynds explained that the Treesdale families whose properties border the site are concerned about the following:

• stockpiling of materials like gravel and concrete for future work
• dumping road waste
• noise and vibration
• storage of construction equipment.

The work has been done under a grading permit, Hynds said.

"That's the crux of the issue," she added. "It's not simply grading."

Some residents spoke of the vibrations from a compaction process on the site that causes windows to rattle and irritates the residents to the point that they leave their homes to get away from it.

Residents Carmen Phillips and Kay Stevens said their lifestyles have had to change—they can no longer use their backyards because of the noise and dust.

"Even the dog doesn't like to go out anymore," Stevens said.

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