Churchill residents turned out in force Monday night, crowding a public hearing to grill borough officials over a draft zoning ordinance for the long-vacant Westinghouse Research & Technology Park. More than 40 neighbors said the 26-page proposal leaves big question marks around traffic, tree loss, and stormwater, and they want those gaps filled before any zoning change goes through.
According to WTAE, the draft would create a mixed-use district that allows housing, retail, medical offices, and business space alongside green areas. The proposal also includes language meant to discourage data-center projects, and the property owner told the station they are not pursuing a data center.
"I recommend requiring that we ensure the public has the opportunity to review the traffic study and comment," resident Julie Caryl told WTAE, capturing a central demand at the meeting for more transparency. Ken Balkey, a member of Churchill's Tree Committee who once worked at Westinghouse, told the station the plan "needs to be done correctly" and urged that any tree removal be reviewed by qualified experts rather than allowed "carte blanche."
Neighbors Want Stronger Protections And Proof
Throughout the hearing, residents pressed borough staff for access to the traffic modeling, hard-and-fast stormwater requirements, and clear tree-preservation rules instead of what they saw as aspirational language. The Churchill Borough website lists an active Tree Committee and points readers to the draft ordinance on the borough's eCode360 portal, resources neighbors said should be used to invite more detailed public review. Residents argued that those materials should lay out timelines for studies and spell out specific, enforceable mitigation measures.
A Familiar Fight Over Scale And Impact
The site has already seen one round of high-profile debate. In 2020–21, the borough weighed a Hillwood proposal for a warehouse that could have hosted Amazon, a plan that triggered lengthy hearings and zoning amendments. PublicSource chronicled that earlier fight and the technical concerns residents raised at the time, from blasting to potential mine subsidence risks.
What's Next
Council is slated to take up the zoning amendment at its May 11 business meeting, according to the borough's calendar. If the council signs off on the change, the developer would then move into the conditional-use and land-development stages.
Minutes on ecode360 from past Westinghouse deliberations show those conditional-use steps trigger detailed reviews of traffic, stormwater, and environmental reports that the developer must address before final permits are issued.
Many neighbors say they support a mixed-use future for the Westinghouse property, but only if it comes with enforceable protections and public access to the studies that will reveal the project's real impact. The council's decision next week will help determine whether those guardrails are locked in place before redevelopment moves ahead.
