Council opens hearing on conditional use for group-care home at 2518 Hampton Avenue

Hampton Township Council opened a public hearing on a conditional use application to operate a group care home for three residents at 2518 Hampton Avenue, a property in the township’s Residential B zoning district. Amanda, a township planning staff member, told the council that the zoning ordinance allows group care homes that serve up to six people and that this application proposes three. She said the applicant has met most conditional-use requirements, planning commission and Gateway Engineers recommend approval, and the application was advertised July 24 and July 31 in the North edition of the Post‑Gazette and notices were mailed to properties within 300 feet on July 30. "The only thing I will say regarding that letter is that this application does not propose to rezone the property to commercial," Amanda said. Jeff Lingle, president and CEO of Residential Resources, described his organization as "a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that provides housing to people with disabilities," and said Residential Resources is the property owner and manager. Kelly O’Malley, CEO of PA Connecting Communities (PACC), the service provider tenant named in the application, described the two prospective residents and the staffing plan. "The individuals we provide services to do not have any type of criminal record," O’Malley said, and she said PACC hires staff who undergo criminal- and abuse-clearance checks and that the provider is governed by the state Office of Developmental Programs and the Department of Human Services. Planning staff noted one outstanding issue: a conditional-use requirement that the off-street parking area be screened from adjacent properties. Staff said existing vegetation is on an adjoining property and cannot be credited; the applicant has applied for a variance to address the screening requirement and planning recommended either a variance or that the applicant install a fence or other buffer. The council recorded the public hearing and then closed it by motion; no final council decision was made at the meeting. The council president said a decision is scheduled for the council’s regular meeting in two weeks. The public hearing drew several nearby residents who asked whether the home’s residents or tenant agencies could include people with substance-use or criminal histories; PACC and Residential Resources representatives said their licenses and contracts limit services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to moderate- to higher-functioning individuals, and that the organizations are not licensed to provide drug- or alcohol-rehabilitation services. The council will take formal action on the conditional use and any related variance at the next scheduled meeting; until then the application remains under review.