Hindu temple sues Monroeville over permit denial

Members of a Hindu temple are suing Monroeville after council members denied the temples bid to build a larger structure on its sloping property.

In November, Monroeville council voted, 3-2, with one member abstaining, against allowing excavation necessary for the Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Inc. to build a two-story temple building of about 13,000 square feet on what municipal officials said is a steeply sloped, landslide-prone property on Abers Creek Road. The appeal, filed Thursday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on behalf of the temple, asked the court to overturn councils decision.

Tom Ayoob, an attorney for the temple, said in the lawsuit that the action by Monroeville council members who, he says, rejected their own engineering, planning and development staff members opinions that the project would comply with zoning ordinances under certain conditions is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, contrary to law and not supported by the facts in the record.

Council members did approve the projects site plan.

Mr. Ayoob could not be reached for further comment Friday. Neither could Bruce Dice, the attorney representing Monroeville in the case, Monroeville municipal manager Timothy Little, or temple president Panduranga Rao Malyala.

Most of the 36.6-acre lot, which is zoned for single-family residential construction and for conservancy, has slopes in excess of 25 percent with about seven acres of the property containing slopes of more than 40 percent. Monroevilles planning commission had recommended approval for the conditional use applications, which would require clear-cutting the hillside and excavating nearly 25,000 cubic yards of earth for site preparation and temple construction.

In addition to the new building, temple officials want to construct a 1,466-square-foot addition, a 264-square-foot connecting wing and four gazebos. The addition would contain worship facilities, an office, meditation areas and a kitchen.

After council voted Nov. 11 to deny the project, Mr. Little wrote a letter to Mr. Malyala in which he stated the proposed development is located in the general area of landslide prone soils and relatively steep slopes that could potentially have an adverse effect to the abutting residential property and structures.

Amy McConnell Schaarsmith: aschaarsmith@post-gazette.com.

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Hindu temple sues Monroeville over permit denial