Oct 10, 2002 By Patty Shultz 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Council will proceed with legal action to halt construction of a controversial building project, despite advice from two city solicitors to the contrary. By a 3-to-2 vote margin, the panel directed solicitor James Fitzsimmons to file an injunction with Fayette County court to have the multi-level building being erected at the intersection of routes 119 and 201 removed.

“It seems to me the appropriate thing to do at this point is to monitor the situation,” Fitzsimmons told the council members on Tuesday. “There may be other options, depending on the action of the planning commission.”

Kirk Sohonage, solicitor for the commission, said that the planning board had not taken any action on the application submitted by businessman Randy Strickler and there was no cause to file an injunction before the members could make a determination.

“This is premature,” he said of the pending legal action. “Let’s follow the law. Let the commission vote on it.”

Strickler, who has served on the planning board for nearly a decade, submitted an application in May to place the nearly 40-foot-tall structure at the intersection. After construction began in September, it was determined the matter had not been discussed during a public meeting or that the application had received authorization from the board.

During its meeting last week, the planning commission opted to table the matter and allow Sohonage to review the application to determine if it complied with city guidelines.

Commission chairman Sam Spotto said the board would meet within two weeks to address the issue, but no date has been scheduled, according to Sohonage.

Mayor Judy Reed, who proposed the resolution for the injunction, cited public health and safety as the main reason for the action.

“This represents a possible hazard (at the intersection),” Reed said.

Electronic signs are to be attached to two sides of the building that will feature advertising for area businesses.

Reed said that the building limits sight distance at the intersection and that motorists are unable to adequately view traffic traveling along Crawford Avenue, Route 119 and Route 201, which converge at the intersection.

Councilwoman Chris Wagner, who along with Councilman Bruce Jaynes voted no to the proposal, said it is unfair to target Strickler when numerous signs throughout the city do not comply with guidelines.

“Are we going to go back and make all of them take them down?” said Wagner. “I doubt it.”

In a related issue, Reed also received support to launch an investigation to determine how Strickler obtained the 0.145-acre property at the intersection.

According to Reed, the property at one time was owned by the city and known as “Mayor’s Park.”

Attorney Richard Bower, who represented Strickler at the meeting, asked Reed how she was able to conclude that the property was held by the city when documents obtained from the Fayette County Recorder of Deeds Office indicated his client purchased the property from PL&E Railroad.

“It never has been city property,” Bower said.

Although Bower offered to share his information with Reed, she declined, adding that the city would conduct its own investigation.

Bower also questioned Reed about a third proposal to replace Strickler on the planning commission, just one year after he had been appointed to serve a five-year term.

“I don’t think there is an opening,” he said.

Reed said she was adhering to municipal code laws that require board terms be staggered in order to maintain continuity on the panel.

Strickler, along with Spotto and commission member Tom Trimpey, was re-appointed to the board in 2001.

Strickler said earlier he was not informed by council that it had intended to restructure the terms of office or asked if he would like to be retained on the board.

“I never received anything,” he said. “I would have like to have stayed.”

The measure was passed with council members John Whalen, Judy Keller and Reed voting yes and Wagner and Jaynes casting dissenting ballots.