HERMITAGE, PA. City approves requirement changes for Orthodox church's building plans

HERMITAGE, Pa. -- St. John's Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church is getting a break on its plans to build a new church at the southeast corner of Morefield Road and Pa. Route 18.
The city enacted a special zoning regulation in that area after the state widened Route 18 from two to five lanes several years ago. The regulation carries some extensive landscaping and other requirements for new construction.
The church asked for, and the city commissioners have approved, removal of its 10.5 acres from that special zoning area.
That means the building plans for the church, education center and rectory must now only meet the city's single-family zoning requirements.
That will allow the church to put a parking lot between its building and Route 18, and eliminates a 50-foot building setback from the street, curbs on driveways and parking lots, street trees and sidewalks, screening and landscaping for off-street parking areas, and buffer screenings from adjoining properties.
St. John's is now in Sharon and plans to vacate and sell its sanctuary, education center and rectory, which have been on Cedar Avenue since 1938.
The congregation of 250 families has 6,200 square feet of space in its church, and the new one will be about 4,000 square feet. The cost is estimated at $1.5 million, and the project is expected to be completed within a year.