Please mark your calendars – TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25th at 7PM -MEETING ADMIN BUILDING– BOARD ROOM- 2675 BROWNSVILLE
The South Park Township PLANNING COMMISSION WILL VOTE ON THE APPLICATION FOR FINAL APPOVAL ON THE PROPOSED SLEEPY HOLLOW DEVELOPMENT!
Some Key Issues: (Please check Change.org, online community pages and SPT page for notice of cancellation – key required information is still missing as of 11/22)
• The Township Engineer’s review of the final plan identified dozens and dozens of errors, omissions, and even wrongly identified our township as Bethel Park and White Oak! IF THEIR WORK IS THIS SLOPPY AND UNPROFESIONAL NOW, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT WHEN THE ACTUAL WORK BEGINS. (GOOGLE Frank Zokaites for that answer)
• The Allegheny County Economic Development (ACED) advisory letter raised serious concerns about safety and emergency vehicle access tied to Sleepy Hollow Road and the bridge. Developer and our BOS ignore this – we’ll pay later!
• 15,000+ petition signatures to STOP THE SLEEPY HOLLOW DEVELOPMENT!
• Environmental reports show mine voids, coal seams, acid-producing rock, and wetlands, making the site unsuitable for a general NPDES stormwater permit and requiring a more stringent individual permit. This KEY ENVIRONMENTAL PERMIT HAS NOT YET BEEN APPLIED FOR AND CAN TAKE A YEAR OR MORE AND MAY NOT BE GRANTED BY THE DEP! Developer wants to hide these issues and RUSH APPROVAL!
$$$$$ How much will OUR TAXES GO UP in the future to pay for the NECESSARY AND RECOMMENDED work on the township owned road and bridge that this developer refuses to pay for! Look at the plans – minor modifications now will mean MAJOR $$ later! They’ll take the profits as we, the taxpayer residents get stuck with the BILL$!!
Will the PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERNS and LITIGATION COST issues raised by the County and residents EVER be addressed?? Even More future TAX INCREASES to pay for the litigation! Let your VOICES BE HEARD!! We need ANSWERS - BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!
Come to the meetings and keep track of the names that are willing to sign us all up for this!
Sleepy Hollow: Why This Development Is Too Dangerous to Ignore
Here is a fact-driven case for why this project must be REJECTED
1. The Road Is Too Narrow — and Excavation Will Make It Even More Dangerous
Sleepy Hollow Road is far below modern safety widths for a 108-home development. Nearby neighborhoods were required to build 24–26 ft roads, yet this developer proposes a narrow roadway of 20-22ft cut into a steep, unstable hillside.
More excavation means more instability, more runoff, and more risk — all with no second entrance. One blocked road means 108 families trapped.
2. The Bridge & Twin Metal Culverts Are Nearing End-of-Life
The ONLY access to the entire proposed community is an 18-foot-wide bridge with aging twin culverts built in 1999. These structures have a 25–50 year lifespan, and they are already showing the effects of wear. Replacement cost to taxpayers: $2M–$4Mincluding constructing a temporary bridge as the current one is replaced with a much larger bridge. This development would dramatically accelerate deterioration through vibration, traffic load, and altered water flow. Approval now means a mandatory multi-million-dollar taxpayer repair bill later.
3. One Entrance = A Predictable Emergency Tragedy
If a crash, fallen tree, landslide, or mine subsidence blocks the road, 108 homes lose all access. Imagine a resident with a heart attack, stroke, house fire, traumatic injury! Emergency services cannot get in. Families cannot get out. There is no alternate route, no detour, no safety plan. Just more lawsuit liability to the township and tax payers!!
This is not a hypothetical scenario—it is an engineered dead-end with life-or-death consequences. And once these dangers are documented, the Township assumes full legal liability if it approves the plan anyway. These are ignored, known, obvious issues!
4. The Road Sits Directly Above High-Risk Mine-Subsidence Zones
Room-and-pillar mines lie beneath Sleepy Hollow Road — the highest-risk classification for collapse. The two triggers known to destabilize these mines are: #1 Groundwater infiltration #2 Heavy surface activity & excavation. The project requires both in large quantities. If the road drops even a few inches, the sole access route is gone.
5. Township Liability Is Absolute — No Sovereign Immunity
Under Pennsylvania law, municipalities cannot claim immunity for known hazards involving township owned roads, bridges, or sidewalks. Once warned — and these warnings are now on record — the Township becomes financially and legally responsible for: preventable emergency delays, road failures, bridge collapse, injuries or fatalities due to blocked access, and mine-subsidence impacts. This development exposes taxpayers to enormous, long-term liability!
6. 100+ Years of Horse-Trail Use Is Protected by Law — and Must Be Accommodated
Sleepy Hollow Road has been a primary horse-access route to South Park’s trails for more than a century. Under well-settled Pennsylvania law, this long-standing use is a pre-existing nonconforming right that: Cannot be eliminated, Must be protected, requires a safe, dedicated equestrian accommodation. The current plan includes no horse-trail design at all, making it flatly inconsistent with the law.
7. A Perfect Storm of Unacceptable Risk
No responsible engineer or local government can ignore the combination of: steep, unstable slopes, narrow substandard road, end-of-life culvert bridge, documented mine-subsidence risk, single-entrance emergency hazard, legally protected horse-trail rights, Township liability without immunity. The site itself is fundamentally incompatible with a dense 108-home development. SLEEPY HOLLOW— A Line We Cannot Cross!