“This is supposed to be a residential community,” said Churchill resident Cynthia Underwood. “I think that type of plant needs to be in the industrial park, you know, where they’re used to that kind of activity, and it’s expected.” (Photo by Ryan Loew/PublicSource)
by Mila Sanina, PublicSource
There was a time when a Native American trail crossed this piece of land. Then in the 18th century, European settlers repurposed it as a trade route to bring furs across Pennsylvania. They called it the Raystown Path. It ran from Carlisle and ended in Lawrenceville. Many years passed and, in the late 1950s, it became the George Westinghouse Research and Technology Park that once employed 1,900 people. For over 20 years, the property in Churchill Borough has been largely vacant. There was a film studio there in recent years but not anymore. And now Amazon is eyeing 57 acres of that land to be developed as the site of a giant distribution facility.
The proposed development would be located at 1310 Beulah Road. It’s a private property owned by Churchill Crossings Partners LP and assessed at $913,500. Texas-based Hillwood Development is proposing to develop the site for Amazon. The project is estimated to be a $300 million investment.
When your neighborhood becomes part of the Amazon strategy, the dynamic of who holds power, who gains and who loses is complicated. And in Churchill, the debates about economic development, community safety, environment and opportunities for future generations are playing out with a larger debate around Amazon, projected soon to become the biggest employer in America. These Amazon development projects are happening all over the country. In the Rust Belt, the behemoth has applied its formula to turn abandoned sites into fulfillment centers in cities like Akron, Cleveland and Detroit. It’s a story about power, about capital, land and labor and the fundamental tension between property rights and community input.
Right now, the fate of the development proposal is in the hands of the seven-member Churchill Borough Council. The council is expected to vote soon on whether to approve a conditional use application for the project. If the application moves forward, the next step is a separate land development approval process with the planning commission and Churchill Borough council.
If approved, the 2.9-million-square-foot warehouse that Amazon calls a “robotics sortable fulfillment center,” with 1,794 parking spaces and four and a half stories, would be the largest development in the east suburbs of Pittsburgh in recent memory. It’s what a lot of officials call a “once-in-a-generation” kind of thing. Amazon promises to remediate the site from asbestos, PCBs, lead and mold, demolish old buildings on the property and bring local jobs to the area. The company has also paid for impact studies to demonstrate compliance with requirements and the impact of the proposed development on traffic, noise, air quality, light and stormwater.
“I’ve never had a situation where this kind of effort is being poured into a development.”
CHURCHILL BOROUGH MANAGER ALEX GRAZIANI
Earlier this year, state Sen. Jay Costa and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald wrote letters in support of the project. Amie Downs, the spokesperson for Fitzgerald, told PublicSource that the county executive remains supportive of the project and “focused on the opportunities that this will create for Woodland Hills students.”
But Cynthia Underwood, who lives on Graham Boulevard in Churchill, believes other factors should be taken into consideration. Underwood, native of Rankin, raised her two daughters in Churchill, a community where, as a single mom, she felt safe. Churchill was a community she could enjoy. “It was a big thing for me,” she said.
“This is supposed to be a residential community. I think that type of plant needs to be in the industrial park, you know, where they’re used to that kind of activity, and it’s expected.”
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