Local News
Madison Grove gets green light
Rock residents drop appeal against developer
By Carol Ann Gregg
Allied News Staff Writer
The fight to stop Slippery Rock’s Madison Grove development is over.
Area residents who had been fighting to stop the 50-unit apartment complex from being built in their backyards withdrew their case against the developer this week.
To the surprise of many, the Slippery Rock Zoning Hearing Board canceled its June 24 meeting, at which they planned to give their decision on the citizens’ appeal of the development.
Attorney Gwilym A. Price III, who represented the parties bringing the appeal, said June 25 that his clients, Terry and Stacey Steele, had struck a deal early on Wednesday with Madison Grove’s developer, the Woda Group of Westerville, Ohio. Woda had planned to build on property adjacent to that of the Steeles and their neighbors on Poplar Forest Drive.
“On the advice of counsel, we decided to drop the case,” Stacey Steele said Thursday.
The couple knew all along that there was the possibility that they would lose in their efforts to stop the development, she said. They determined that the time had come to stop their efforts against Madison Grove becoming a reality in Slippery Rock.
Jeffrey Woda, president of Woda Group, was not available for comment.
In a December 2006 report in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, it was reported that the 50-unit Madison Grove housing complex in Slippery Rock had received a $610,000 funding commitment from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.
According to a press release from Governor Edward Rendell’s office on June 10, Madison Grove has been chosen to receive $7,430,783 for the development of the 50-unit apartment complex.
According to Luke Webber, spokesperson for the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), this money is part of the federal stimulus funds received in Pennsylvania. This grant is to provide affordable housing to low- and moderate-income families.
The development will feature nine one- and two-story buildings on a five-acre site along Grove City Road (Route 173).
The units will include six one-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom, 16 three-bedroom and 12 four-bedroom apartments and a community building.
Prior to receiving the building permit from borough council, Madison Grove had to adhere to 11 conditions to provide proper storm water management, screening from neighboring properties and implement safety measures for the future residents of the project.
The developer has submitted all the required permits and the project should begin soon.
This week, the Woda Group also received the go-ahead for a project, Quaker Meadows, in Hermitage.
The project is on property connecting Valley View Road and North Hermitage Road. Neighbors to the development site attempted to stop the project. The appeal went before the Mercer County Common Pleas court where it was determined that the developer met all the requirements to build the 40 homes on the 26è-acre site.
The company would rent the homes for 15 years and sell them afterward. There would be income limits set on those who could rent the homes, according to an article in the June 25 Sharon Herald.
Purchase a copy of this article at Allied News, 201A Erie St., Grove City. Publish date June 27, 2009.
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Bullies beware
Picked on. Teased. Bullied.
However you want to say it, students harassing their peers in today’s schools has become a major social problem.
“It usually ends up in the school’s lap on Monday,” said assistant superintendent Tom Bell, of Grove City Area School District. -
Reins put on dogs, parents
Parents and pets will have to make some changes at Hunter Farm.
Parents rushing to get their kids to Grove City Little Eagles Football and Cheerleading practice, will have to slow down--or else. -
911 call results in lake search
A call to Mercer County 911 on Friday morning (Aug. 20) prompted a search of an older man who was apparently drowning with another person in Lake Wilhelm.
Around 9:05 a.m. Friday, 911 received a call from a man who kept yelling “help, help,” said Denny Winger, supervisor with the 911 center in Mercer.
“He said there were two in the water and they’d fallen off a boat in Lake Wilhelm,” Winger said.
“You could tell he was outside. There was a lot of background noise.” -
The bus stops here
Grove City was among the last stops for a bus tour that denounced “so-called pro-life Democrats” who voted for President Obama’s national health care bill in March.
Susan B. Anthony List stopped at Grove City Memorial Park on Monday (Aug. 16) along with a crowd of about 50 supporters and 10 protesters of its “Votes Have Consequences” tour. -
Creating a windstream of kindness across U.S.
Customers at Anchors Away, a convenience store, and Subway, both Stoneboro, were in for a treat Wednesday.
Representatives from Windstream--area phone, Internet and Dish Network providers--stopped in and surprised local customers with “random acts of kindness.”
“Really?” was a common response. -
ATV, motorcycle crashes have different endings
A Grove City man died in a motorcycle accident around 7 p.m. Sunday, and a Sandy Lake man was charged for crashing his ATV.
Louis J. Sharek, 61, crashed on North Liberty Road in Pine Township for unknown reasons, said state trooper Joseph Morris, of the Jackson Township barracks. -
Man’s mental state may play role in court
Mental illness may possibly be used as a defense for why a Harrisville man allegedly killed his friend last week.
“It’s just a shame,” said Melvin Booher, after a preliminary hearing in Slippery Rock on Wednesday for Thomas Nathan Smith, 49, who admitted to state police that he killed Clifford Stevenson, 56, on July 28.
Booher and his wife, Mary, of Leesburg, who is Stevenson’s niece, were among approximately 15 family members who came to the hearing. Others were mostly from the Grove City area. -
Harrisville man kills roommate
A Harrisville man has been charged with killing his house mate.
Thomas Nathan Smith, 49, of 4711 William Flynn Highway, was charged by state police in Butler County with criminal homicide, for shooting Clifford Stevenson, 56, in the right side of his head, between July 27 and 29. -
Expanding Earth
Two houses along Grant Street were razed in Grove City on Wednesday, so a new structure can be raised.
Earth Sun Moon Trading Company, 111 N. Center St., abuts 112 and 116 Grant, and the business plans to build a 9,000-square-foot addition once the debris is hauled away, said Nathan Depew, owner. -
Group formed to help young area professionals network
A new organization in town kicks off next week, with a goal of uniting young professionals and offering networking and social opportunities.
Grove City Young Professionals aims to encourage and support the young professional workers in the Grove City area. It will have its first gathering with a mixer at 6 p.m. Aug. 2 on the patio of Rachael’s Roadhouse, Route 19 in Mercer. - More Local News Headlines
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Bullies beware
