Zoning panel clears way for 2nd group home in Unity

Community Options’ plan to open a second group home for special needs residents in Unity has won approval from the township zoning hearing board.

The board voted 3-2 Tuesday to grant a special exception for the home designated for up to two residents on McClellan Drive in the Charter Oak housing plan.

Kathy Matta, Dorothy Zello and Jackie Nindel voted to allow the special exception in the R-1 residential zone. Judge Jim Kelley and Tim Thomas were opposed.

According to Community Options, the McClellan Drive home initially will house only one resident, a 27-year-old man with a mild intellectual disability who will be moving from another of the organization’s homes in Irwin.

The move to Charter Oak was meant to allow the man, who works at a Hempfield restaurant, to live together with a childhood friend, who also was disabled. But that man, who had a chronic health condition, has died.

With the zoning approval, the man “is going to have his forever home now” in Charter Oak, said Stephen Hall, executive director of Community Options operations in Westmoreland County. “He’s still coming in to a great community.

“Hopefully, over the next couple of months we can get everything ready for him and see him in there by March.”

As he does now, the man will have around-the-clock support at the new home from a Community Options staffer. Additional support will be provided by visiting specialists.

As for finding a second resident to share the home, Hall said, “I would like to find someone who matches up well with (him), and that’s going to take some time. I want to make sure they’re the right person.”

At the suggestion of township solicitor Gary Falatovich, the zoning panel set conditions requiring Community Options to notify the township of any change in occupancy at the two-story home. The township also wants to be notified of any calls requesting police to the property and the general nature of those calls.

At a Jan. 11 hearing before the zoning board, Hall indicated he is willing to provide the requested information.

Neighboring residents have expressed concern about police responses to another Community Options group home in Unity, which was approved last year on Primrose Drive for three men with autism.

Falatovich said he was concerned state police provided details for only one of five calls to the Primrose Drive home in their response to a Right-to-Know request.

Hall has said he could recall two incidents when first responders arrived at the Primrose Drive address for a client experiencing medical problems, but he wasn’t sure why a police response would have been needed.

At the recent hearing, the zoning panel heard more than four hours of testimony, including concerns from neighbors about the quality of care Community Options will provide at the group home and that care providers driving regularly to and from the house would be disruptive.

On Tuesday, Thomas said Community Options hadn’t provided sufficient plans for operations and parking at the group home. He moved to deny the special exception. Kelley seconded the motion, but it died on a 3-2 opposing vote.

Kelley argued the group home would be “changing the nature and character of the community.”

Nindel said the home has a long driveway that should be able to accommodate the vehicles of those providing support services. She said it would be no different than if an existing elderly resident in the neighborhood were to require visiting caregivers.

“No one would think twice about them coming in and out,” she said.

Matta concluded the group home meets all the requirements for a special exception. Falatovich said those include being at least 500 feet from any other group home and having plans in place for the safety of the home’s residents and of the adjacent neighborhood.