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Condominiums of Mt. Lebanon proposed for long-vacant lot

By Harry Funk 3 min read
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The large piece of property at Washington and Bower Hill roads has stood vacant longer than anyone cares to remember.

“That portal has been kind of an eyesore for anyone coming into Mt. Lebanon,” Richard Dziubek said about the approach to the municipality from Dormont.

Dziubek, who has lived nearby for 30 years, attended the Sept. 22 Mt. Lebanon Planning Board meeting to learn about plans to develop the land. WPBH LLC, affiliated with Zamagias Properties of Pittsburgh, owns the two acres and has pitched several ideas to the municipality without success.

The latest concept is for Mt. Lebanon Condominiums, which would entail 46 three-story units: seven townhouses and 39 condos. Zamagias representatives presented a plan review to the board and municipal officials, with plans for a more detailed formal proposal in the future.

“We’re really trying to build on the character of what Mt. Lebanon is all about,” Jim McMullan, principal of JMAC Architects, Bridgeville, said about the design of the residential structures, calling it an “eclectic mix of elements.”

The concept is for three larger buildings of 12 condominium units each, plus one with three units, to complement the townhouses.

“We’ll be adding quite a bit of landscaping associated with the overall plan,” Michael Wetzel of Victor-Wetzel Associates, a Sewickley landscape designer, told the planning board. Features will include trees, lawns and shrubbery along Washington Road, plus a two-tiered plaza with a water feature reminiscent of that at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

David Martens, president and chief operating officer of Zamagias Properties, said the project would be completed in three phases.

The first phase would address the cluster of condominiums and townhouses near the Washington-Bower Hill intersection. The second would take place on the portion of the property near Oak Way, and the third to the rear, along Kenmont Avenue.

Traffic patterns call for ingress one way from Bower Hill Road, with egress onto Oak Way. Vehicles would both enter and exit using Kenmont, with a right turn only for those leaving the property.

The proposal calls for 15-plus public parking spaces along Washington Road, across the street from St. Bernard Church.

“This is probably one of the best plans I’ve seen,” Dziubek, a Kenmont Avenue resident, told the board. But he also expressed several concerns.

“I’ve seen traffic not only double, but probably triple or quadruple in the years I’ve lived on that property,” he said, calling navigating Kenmont somewhat of a hazard. “There is a blind hill on that street. You can’t see that traffic until you’re on top of that traffic.”

Agreeing was Steve Apke, a 25-year resident whose Kenmont Avenue house is next to the WPBH property. He said that motorists often use the street as a cut-through, turning off Bower Hill Road to avoid the traffic light at Washington.

Apke contended that the property is relatively small for the development being proposed.

“I don’t understand why they don’t take an entire block,” he said, suggesting that the company purchasing the several remaining properties near his house expand the usable area “instead of trying to jam everything in there.”

He also agreed that the property is in need of development and in general commended the latest proposal.

Keith McGill, municipal planner, explained that a traffic study is required as part of the formal submission, and the study is subject to review by Mt. Lebanon’s traffic engineer.

“It’s a very intense process in terms of the material we require from a submission standpoint,” he said.

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