Developer suing Rostraver

In a federal lawsuit, a Pittsburgh developer claims his Rostraver Township housing plan failed and his company suffered financially because the township commissioners reneged on a November 2000 development agreement.

John Kartman, president of Westchester Highlands Inc., is seeking at least $75,000 plus attorney fees and court costs from the township and four of its elected officials. The suit asserts that the commissioners violated Kartman's constitutional rights by changing the agreement, a move described as "arbitrary, capricious, and carried out with indifference."

Plans for Kartman's Shawnee Point project initially were approved on Nov. 28, 2000. Westchester Highlands bought the property in 1999.

Throughout the project, Kartman and the board were at odds over the way Kartman's work was being done. In June 2002, the commissioners approved a revised plan for Shawnee Point.

Board Chairman George Martin said the commissioners had little choice but to do so, adding that Kartman was violating township zoning laws.

"He didn't do what he was supposed to do when he was supposed to do it," Martin said. "He was doing things out of sequence."

Kartman did not immediately return a call for comment.

The suit contends the change in the development agreement caused the development to fail for Kartman and hurt his company financially.

As defendants, he names Rostraver Township and the board of commissioners. He also names Martin and fellow commissioners Nick Lorenzo, Brian Sokol and Donald Yoder individually.