Warren residents file lawsuit to stop senior housing project
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State officials have 21 days to respond to a lawsuit filed earlier this week seeking to nullify state and federal funding approvals for a contested senior housing project in Warren.
Warren residents David Winans, Ronald Peterson, Philip Caudill, Wendy McCain and Kevin Sheldon filed a federal lawsuit in Western District Court against Adrianne Todman, acting secretary of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development department, and Rick Siger, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, as well as both officials' agencies.
Winans, Peterson, Caudill, McCain and Sheldon oppose a proposal by Hudson Companies to build the Eagles Crest housing project at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Liberty Street. The project involves demolishing a property at 231-237 Pennsylvania Ave., which the Warren residents say is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"Demolition of 231-237 Pennsylvania Avenue will not only result in the irreplaceable loss of Warren's only surviving example of single-story Beaux Arts Style architecture, but also inflict severe and long-lasting effects on the character, community and economy of Warren and jeopardize the continued maintenance of the Warren Historic District's listing in the National Register," wrote attorney Michael Agresti of the Erie law firm Marsh Schaaf in the lawsuit.
In addition to attorney's fees, court costs and expenses, Winans, Peterson, Caudill, McCain and Sheldon re asking the court to declare that the state Department of Community and Economic Development and federal HUD approval of the project and its funding violate National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act regulations; that the state and federal agency violated their duty to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act by not assessing potential adverse effects of the project and resolving the housing project's adverse effects to historic properties; order the state and federal agency to set aside any decision authorizing federal funding for the Eagle Crest project; order the agencies to set aside the memorandum of agreement that ended consultations required by Section 106 of the NHPA and begin that consultation again; stop any construction that has already begun until the Section 106 process is completed again; and grant temporary or permanent injunctions requested by the city residents.
The city residents argue Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act requires federal agencies to take into consideration a project's effect on historic districts or properties. The Warren Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, with the Eagle Crest project properties allegedly notable because of its commercial history and its available adaptive reuse as an example of Beaux Arts Style architecture – a style known for large, imposing facades and impressive entrances.
Hudson Companies proposes to demolish the structure to build a four- or five-story building with 40 housing units for senior citizens. Winans, Peterson, Caudill, McCain and Sheldon argue there is no need for the project, take issue with the fact the city of Warren sold the land to Hudson Companies for $5,000 without offering it for sale to the public and that neither the state DCED or federal HUD required the developer to consider alternative sites.
The lawsuit alleges the agencies didn't adequately consider the views of consulting parties throughout the required Section 106 consultation process, didn't comply with Right-to-Know requests by Winans, Peterson, Caudill, McCain and Sheldon, didn't consult with Native American tribes, and failed to consider the effect the senior housing project would have on the Warren Historic District because the agencies didn't, in the plaintiffs' view, evaluate potential adverse economic effects, including lost property values and tourism revenues.
"Demolishing 231-237 Pennsylvania Avenue would not only result in the loss of one of the Warren Historic District's most unique historic buildings, but also allow the visual intrusion of a massive out-of-scale new building with no connection to Warren's historic heritage," the lawsuit states. "The project will also visually cut off Warren's historic connections to the Allegany River, an important part of the Warren Historic District's context, setting and atmosphere, thereby directly harming the Warren Historic District's integrity in myriad ways."