Jul 8, 2025 By Jon Andreassi 3 min read

North Strabane Township residents opposed to a planned housing development along Peters Lake intend to continue their legal battle after a Washington County judge denied their appeal of the conditional use approval last week.

Judge Brandon Neuman issued his ruling Thursday rejecting the appeal. Neuman heard arguments from both sides in a May 15 hearing.

The North Strabane Township board of supervisors approved the conditional use application for Laurel Communities last year. The developer is hoping to build a 41-home, 35.5-acre development called The Collective.

Linda Lopez, Matt Maniet and Pamela Maniet, all residents of North Spring Valley Road, appealed that decision. Joshua Ash represented them in the courtroom in May, and argued the conditional use process should be redone as the concerns of residents were not adequately addressed.

“This Court also recognizes that the project is in the conditional use phase. The developer must meet all conditions prior to disturbing any of the land. North Strabane took the public’s health, safety, and welfare into consideration when setting forth the conditions that must be satisfied moving forward. It is still to be determined whether the developer will be able to adequately meet the required conditions to protect the environment along with the health, safety, and welfare of the public,” Neuman wrote in his decision.

Ash, the director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh, said Monday that the decision “isn’t necessarily surprising” and he is in process of filing another appeal in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Jon Kamin, who represented Laurel Communities at the May hearing, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

In the next stage of appeals, the trio of North Strabane residents will again be seeking to have the approval of the developer’s conditional use application reversed.

“What happens most of the time is they bounce it back to the court of common pleas. I think that is possible,” Ash said.

In his ruling, Neuman wrote that those opposed to the development will have the ability to raise objections before Laurel Communities receives final approval.

“Appellants will have numerous opportunities to contest the development as the approval process proceeds,” Neuman wrote.

According to Ash, however, the conditional use hearing is the primary venue to present evidence throughout the process. He argues residents were not afforded that opportunity.

“There was a whole bunch of evidence we were hoping to have ready to present at a different hearing,” Ash said.

Matt Maniet said he and the Friends of Peters Lake group began organizing about three days before the original hearing. The group is concerned about the environmental impacts of the project, and whether the local roads can handle the increased traffic from such a development.

“To be honest, with you, there is no way, in our minds, it can work,” Maniet said.