1st phase of construction approved for Valley Green development in Hempfield, with conditions

Hempfield supervisors this week approved a motion that would pave the way for new residential homes at the former Valley Green Golf & Country Club as long as the developer meets several conditions.

In a unanimous vote Monday, supervisors granted conditional approval for 63 lots along Valley Green Road. The homes would be part of the first phase of the project that would develop the former 18-hole golf course, split between Hempfield and Unity, which shuttered in December 2019.

The approval is contingent upon several conditions, which the developer — Valley Green Westmoreland LLC, a partnership between Colony Holding Co. and Shuster Homes — has 90 days to complete. Conditions in the motion include installation of traffic calming measures to slow traffic along Valley Green Road.

According to township Solicitor Scott Avolio, horizontal deflection measures would consist of two to three raised medians at points of entry along the road. Those are narrow islands located between lanes with breaks in landscaping and curbing for pedestrians, according to the Pennsylvania’s Traffic Calming Handbook.

Other issues related to the road, including the condition of the subsurface, would be discussed when the developer provides the township with road construction drawings.

“I want to go on record as saying township approval to whatever they do on Valley Green Road has to be done through the board first, not just staff,” said Supervisor Rob Ritson, who attended the meeting over the phone. “I want to see what that is before we knock off that condition.”

Other conditions include the developer providing site distances for lots on the bend of the road, showing stormwater and utility easements and getting approval from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Work on the Valley Green development began in February when supervisors approved a zoning shift from agricultural to suburban residential on 144 acres of the golf course, seemingly paving the way for development. That same month Unity supervisors approved a similar change on the 116-acre section of the course.

Homes built for the Valley Green development could cost between $350,000 and $400,000, at a minimum.

Construction on the first phase of the development cannot begin until the conditions laid out in the motion are met.