Proposed athletic complex in Penn Township draws opposition from some neighbors

Neighbors of a proposed indoor recreation center in Penn Township are concerned it could impact traffic and parking in their residential area.

The facility, to be known as “Battlefield Sports Complex,” is on the table for discussion before the township planning commission and zoning hearing boards.

Originally presented to the planning commission in November, the complex on Byerly Drive just off Route 130 would hold three basketball-size courts and two batting cages to be used primarily for “youth practice and development,” according to owner Mark Thomas.

The building would be located on a 5-acre parcel of land zoned for mixed-density residential use, behind an existing preschool and day care building operated by Mark and Kerri Thomas.

Local and school teams would be able to rent space in the facility, Mark Thomas said, and the courts would be lined for various sports, including basketball and pickleball. During the day, while children are in school, the facility would offer programs for seniors.

“This is just a hometown facility that we are trying to use for our own youth development,” Mark Thomas said, adding that he got the idea because he and his family were traveling to other towns to use their indoor sports facilities. “We felt that Penn Township definitely needs something like this … so that people aren’t traveling to Monroeville, traveling to Irwin, traveling here and there to do these sports when we can do them in our own backyard.”

Thomas predicted that at full capacity, the facility would average three teams using it, with 10 to 15 people on each team, equating to about 45 total cars in the parking lot.

Neighbor concerns

About 40 people turned out at a recent zoning meeting where the board discussed a parking variance for the project. Several Byerly Drive residents and neighbors voiced traffic and environmental concerns; some also spoke at a commissioners meeting the following week.

“The street is narrow. We can’t have people parking on our street,” said Janet Stanley, adding that she was concerned about safety if the parking lot overflowed.

“If the parking lot is full, and there’s not enough space for people to park, where are they going to park?” she said. “They’re going to park on our street. If they don’t park on our street, then where are they going to park? They’re going to park up off of 130 somewhere, and they’re going to walk down, and we’re talking about kids, teenagers and young kids.”

Resident Steve Shaulis noted that even if the property’s owners plan to schedule games so as not to cause excessive traffic, there is no guarantee that won’t change in the future.

“Unrented time and unrented space in facilities like this are lost revenue,” he said. “Even if they meet the parking requirements for zoning, if their business model changes, and if they increase the number of people that are coming to this facility, where are they going to go?”

Shaulis said overflow parking might make the area difficult for emergency vehicles to access.

“The problem with this is it doesn’t belong in this area,” he said. “The infrastructure, the lot size, and the location (are) not meant for a facility like this.”

Next steps

At the zoning meeting, developers proposed lowering the parking space requirement from 126 spaces to 60 spaces, a more than 50% reduction. Previously, the developers had requested a smaller reduction to 116 spaces.

The parking variance was continued until the March zoning board meeting to allow the developers to conduct a traffic study. Until the zoning board makes a decision on March 9, the project cannot continue forward.

A project like this must go through multiple steps before being fully approved, township community development director Bill Roberts explained.

“We have yet to see an interior design on the building. What we are dealing with right now is the approval process for the site itself and the use itself,” he said.

The zoning board could deny or approve the parking variance request, he said, or come to a compromise on the number of required spaces. Only then will the project move on to the planning commission for preliminary approval and ultimately the township commissioners would have to approve it.