'This is going to be 100 feet off our deck' resident says of Murrysville body shop that's an easement away from construction

Murrysville residents who don’t want an auto body and paint business next door to their Manordale Farms neighborhood got good news and bad news at the Murrysville Council meeting Wednesday night.

The good news was council did not approve the 12,500-square-foot Caliber Collision repair center proposed for property just east of Berkshire Drive along Route 22.

The bad news was little more than a right of way easement stands in the way of the project’s likely approval.

“Looking at this from a solicitor’s perspective, this is in a business district, and it’s a permitted use,” Murrysville Council President Dayne Dice said. “This is private property, and we don’t have the right to tell them what they can build if they’re following our ordinances.”

Manordale Farms residents have attended several meetings to oppose the development.

“This is going to be 100 feet off our deck,” said Troy Smith, who lives on Berkshire Drive adjacent to the proposed site. “We live in a beautiful community, and I know they’re trying to appease us by putting in a fence and vegetation. But I don’t think anyone wants the lights, noises and smells from a body shop.”

“There’s plenty of already-developed property in Murrysville,” said Chris Stevens, who lives nearby on Willow Drive. “Why tear down this beautiful area that’s right next to our homes?”

In Dice’s view, it is a property owner exercising the same land-use rights as anyone else.

“In the business district, there are probably 20 things you’re permitted to build,” he said. “And it’s not within this council’s power to simply tell them no. It’s about whether they satisfy our ordinances and have the right to build on this property.”

One issue that has to be resolved is the acquisition of an easement from the municipality to bring sewerage to the property, Murrysville Solicitor Wes Long said.

“That has to be resolved one way or the other,” Long said, adding that at present, it could be considered a reason to deny the development application.

Willow Drive resident Ken Berenger said council should also consider the potential for devaluing nearby homes if Caliber’s plan is approved.

“There are real damages done to us by this,” Berenger said. “There’s no damage to Caliber by moving elsewhere — they’ll be fine. We want business in the area. But proximity counts, and this area just doesn’t make sense.”

Councilman Carl Stepanovich was disappointed that Caliber did not have a representative at the meeting

“Most times we have the developer here, but also the person who’s operating the business,” Stepanovich said. “Has there been anyone from Caliber here? No.”

Melanie Bagley of Texas firm Victory Development responded to residents’ concerns about the proposed entrance, which is about 250 feet east of Berkshire Drive, as well as concerns about what type of work will take place at the site.

“All the work that Caliber does — which is auto-body and paint, not oil changes, not carburetor repair or drive-train work — is done inside the building,” Bagley said. “Any pollutants go through an oil-water separator. The system built for mitigation of paint fumes and things like that is the highest industry standard.”

The proposed entrance — a right-in/right-out-only driveway with a small island divider — is awaiting PennDOT approval.

And while Bagley said it was designed to meet the requirements of a road with a 45 mph speed limit, “I have traveled the road, and I know cars do go faster than that.”

Council voted unanimously to table a potential vote on both the development application and a related amendment to its sewage plan until its next meeting, set for 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at the municipal building, 4100 Sardis Road. Councilman Mac McKenna was not present.

Meetings are also streamed online at Murrysville.com and broadcast on Comcast local access Channel 21.