I was able to speak for 3 minutes at the Council Planning Meeting. Here is a typed version of what was said.
I am Murray Bilby, 2424 Churchill Road.
I tried to limit my comments to 3 minutes but the logical sequence extended to 6. If the council allows the full time they will make more sense. If not I will stop at the 3 and post them to the Churchill future .com website. It has a far more detailed discussion of all the points for those so interested.
This concerns the Hillwood proposal for the 3.6 million square foot, 12 stories high, distribution center.
I state upfront that I am not against the development of the Westinghouse R&D property. I am only against the current proposal.
I am not against Hillwood, only this proposal. And if Hillwood comes back with a proposal more in line with the objectives of the borough, I would most likely give it support.
I wrote a letter to all residents of Churchill, which due to the 40-page length and graphics could not be emailed, so I posted it on a website, Churchill future.com. I also forwarded it to each borough councilor
The Churchill future.com site has much more detail about this proposal. Plus there is a direct email address for confidential corrections or additional comments. Please read it. We as citizens must be informed with facts, not emotional reactions.
This project will destroy the current Churchill residential community. There can be no justification for destroying the community chasing some vague new revenues that cannot possibly offset the totality of the negative consequences in declining property values and quality of life.
If after understanding the scope of this proposal, it does not scare the bejesus out of you, then you are truly not aware of the negative consequences to you personally, as a resident, or the community as a whole.
Hillwood is pushing this through following a time tested sequence explained in the letter. Its interaction involves omissions, distortions, and deflection of obvious questions. That is normal developer procedures and no surprise. It is a business, pure and simple, and will do whatever is necessary to construct the largest possible complex, regardless of local resistance.
If the rules say a building can be 120 feet high, then that building will be 120 high. That is how developers think. They work to maximize within the rules. It is the responsibility of the council to set the rules in the best interest of the community and stick to them.
If after studying the Hillwood proposal, I thought we might be able to influence it; that would have been my suggestion. But the proposal is so massive and excessive and damaging to Churchill and the surrounding municipalities, that I feel it must be rejected, and the process reexamined.
Make no mistake, the $300 million they claim to invest is peanuts compared to amount of money they will make ramming through this project. A building with a roof long enough for a crop-duster to land or take off and that offers 3.6 million square feet of warehouse space, and we are talking floors from 23 to 40 foot high ceilings, not 10, is huge, huge, huge, as big as the entire Monroeville Mall.
Cut off at 3-minute level.
Hillwood repeats the same mantra at each project, more tax revenue and more jobs. Neither is exactly true. Go to Churchill future .com and follow some of the links to other projects. Read for yourself what happens when the developer, Hillwood in this case, leaves one project for the next.
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This humongous building does not belong in Churchill.
I ask the council to immediately reject the proposal.
There is no tweak what so ever that can make this proposal acceptable. Not one.
Council has the obligation to act in the best interest of the community as stated in the State of Pennsylvania Borough Council Handbook. It has the responsibility and the authority to reject it right now. There are procedures, but It is not complicated.
There can be no rationalizing for the delay. We do not want to hear Hillwood has spent too much money, or we’ve invested too much time or any other excuse.
Hillwood knows exactly what it is doing at each step of the process, it is their business.
On Churchill future.com you will see suggestions for projects and guidelines that generate more revenue for the borough, and still keeps the residential ambiance that caused each of us to purchase a home here in the first place: Read it, comment, add to it
So what are some of the consequences of this monstrous complex in our backyard?
Churchill future .com discusses 25 areas, which will directly impact the community. Not everyone will be impacted by the same level of consequences, but make no mistake, every resident will suffer at least five.
1—increased soil instability and 30+ acre loss of Turtle Creek watershed – more landslides and flooding?
2—a significant loss of property value – and that is sure
3—noise and soot pollution from semis trucks coming and going every 45 seconds 24 hours a day – are we really prepared to lose our residential tranquility?
4–visual pollution due to the scale of the building, and, lights surrounding it, the parking, the trailer storage, roads, all needed for a 24/7 operation
5—a massive increase in traffic, especially big trucks, throughout the borough leading to eventual increases in taxes to support the infrastructure, as new taxes paid by the project will not cover the real costs
The borough council must go back to the residents, get them involved, and verify what they want and what they will accept. Only then can it write the rules so that all developers know what is possible for their particular projects.
This is valuable property. Let’s have more competition and accept that which best serves Churchill Borough. And there is good reason to believe it can be Hillwood. Why not?
Thank you