Planning commission recommends sale of one borough lot to neighboring owners, declines to advance larger subdivision proposal

The Petersburg Borough Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended that the borough assembly approve the direct sale of a borough-owned lot to the Mazzella family, and declined to advance a separate application from Greg and Heidi Johnson to purchase and develop a larger set of borough-owned lots.

The commission made a formal recommendation that “Lot 8, Lot 255, Plat 69-53 be approved for sale to the Mazzellas,” and approved that recommendation by roll call. Commissioners later considered an application from Greg and Heidi Johnson for multiple lots in the Scenic View/Northeast subdivisions but, after public testimony and prolonged discussion about notice, infrastructure and the applicants’ lack of a detailed plan, the motion on the Johnson application was declared “dead” and no recommendation was forwarded to the assembly.

The decisions matter to neighbors because both applications involve borough-owned parcels directly adjacent to private homes. Neighbors urged the commission to sell lots individually so adjacent property owners would have a fair chance to acquire them, and raised concerns about whether necessary roads, utilities or foundation work had been addressed in the Johnson proposal.

Public commenters pressed for individual sales. “We also wanted to buy the property behind us, and we were unaware that you could just put an application and try for it. So we're just asking that you sell the lots individually so we have a chance to, like, bid with him or whatever because we're unaware,” said Kelsey Lam, who said she lives at 1004 Lake Street and submitted a written comment. Joel Rander, another neighbor, told the commission he had seen no plan for the broader development and questioned whether the applicants had consulted neighbors. A commenter identified as Pressler said he and his wife would have bought the adjacent parcel years ago if they had known it was available.

Commissioners expressed two recurring concerns during the Johnson discussion: (1) the lack of a clear, written plan describing how the applicants would develop lots, construct roads or provide utilities; and (2) fairness to adjacent property owners. Commissioners noted the Johnson application initially requested upland lots and was later amended to include lower lots behind homes on Lake Street; the amendment increased neighbors’ concerns about notice and potential impacts. A commissioner summarized that the Johnson application’s narrative “says we plan to develop the lots and either sell the developed lots to people who wanna complete their own home construction, build homes and sell the lot and the home, build homes and rent them, or a combination of all 3,” and said that left uncertainty about whether the proposal was for a single development or for subdividing and selling multiple lots.

On the Mazzella application, commissioners who discussed the item said the parcel appears to be contiguous with the Mazzellas’ backyard and that the family plans to expand their home. One commissioner commented that the sale aligns with the practice of offering adjacent property owners the first opportunity to acquire borough land that directly abuts their property. The motion recommending sale to the Mazzellas passed on roll call with all voting commissioners recorded as "yes." The Johnson motion received public testimony and discussion but was not advanced; the chair declared the motion “dead” during debate.

The commission heard three named members of the public during the two items — Kelsey Lam, Joel Rander and Pressler — who all urged either individual-lot sales or better notice and neighbor outreach. Speakers also raised technical concerns about site conditions: one commenter warned that historical grading changes in nearby areas had caused foundation problems for homes built in earlier decades, and commissioners noted that new development could require road construction, utility work and potentially permitting or zoning changes.

The planning commission’s recommendations will be transmitted to the Petersburg Borough Assembly for final action. The commission’s next scheduled meeting was announced as April 8.

Votes at a glance: The commission approved a recommendation to sell Lot 8 (Lot 255, Plat 69-53) directly to the Mazzella applicants by roll call (all voting commissioners recorded “Yes”). A separate motion to recommend sale of multiple lots to Greg and Heidi Johnson was brought, debated and then declared “dead;” no recommendation was forwarded to the borough assembly.