Peters Township council rejects settlement agreement between St. Clair Hospital and Huntington Bank

Peters Township council rejected a settlement agreement with St. Clair Health and Huntington Bank concerning a dispute over whether there needs to be cross access between the properties.
The agreement failed in a 2-2 vote during Monday’s council meeting. Frank Kosir and Tom Pirosko voted in favor, while Robert Lewis and Frank Stiegel opposed the agreement. Frank Arcuri abstained, and Allison Shanafelt and Matt Rost were absent.
St. Clair Health has operated an outpatient center at 3928 Washington Road since 2013. In 2022, Huntington Bank purchased an adjacent property where a bank branch is currently under construction.
“The township ordinance for commercial properties along Route 19 requires, to the extent that it is feasible, that they be interconnected,” explained Township Manager Paul Lauer in a phone call Thursday. “Where the dispute is, St. Clair Hospital, despite it showing on their original site plan, did not want to see an interconnection with Huntington Bank.”
In December 2021, the township had informed St. Clair it was in violation of the zoning ordinance and denied it a building permit to continue developing interior space.
The Peters Township Planning Commission approved Huntington Bank’s site plan in October 2022, which included shared use of St. Clair’s driveway. St. Clair is currently challenging both decisions in Washington County court.
Michael Flanagan, the president and chief executive officer of St. Clair Health, attended Monday’s meeting in support of the settlement.
“We have been requesting this building permit for quite some time. We want to build out 5,000 square feet of unfinished space that has been unfinished since that building was initially completed in 2013. Our plan is to occupy it with primary care, which will then allow us to add some other specialty services to that facility,” Flanagan said.
Had the settlement been approved, it would have enabled St. Clair to get its building permit and begin work, while Huntington Bank would need to draw up new plans based around a reconfigured cross-access driveway.
Prior to council voting, Lewis explained his opposition and said he thinks the building permit should come after the plans have been finalized.
“With respect to the very cordial manner in which this evening has been conducted, I have a very long taste with regard to the litigation and the actions and the accusations that have been made at this council and to our township. I will be voting no,” Lewis said.
Lauer said the settlement failing means St. Clair will have to wait for its building permit, but he believes they are close to coming to an agreement.
“The bank is supposed to get back to us by the end of the month with a site plan,” Lauer said.
He added that all three parties are in agreement to delay further court proceedings while they work out a compromise.
“What I would hope in the next 30 days, maybe 60 days, is that we would have a settlement that would have all parties withdraw from the lawsuit,” Lauer said.