A war has been waged along Oakhill Drive in New Kensington. Resident Cecilia Carson is battling development along the street. Her neighbor, Robert Mozzy, is trying to extend his back yard by filling in a ravine. John Zavadak, city controller, is filling in an adjoining section of the ravine with plans to build a house on the property. Carson is crying foul for several reasons:

She claims the work is devaluing her property because she says it is unsightly. She claims sediment from the fill is having a harmful effect on a tributary to Little Pucketa Creek. She said trucks bringing in the fill are destroying the street. And, she said the dumping in the ravine has been done without a permit, in violation of city code. Carson has documentation to support most of her arguments. Mozzy and Zavadak, in turn, said they have a right to improve their property and that, when the work is done, it will improve the look of the dead-end street. Mozzy said he began backfilling his property in 1999 without a permit. Zavadak began his work about two years ago, also without a permit. Both men, however, said they asked city officials prior to starting their work if they needed permits. Both said they were told they didn't, that there was no ordinance on the books. Carson said that for the past three years, she's operated under the assumption that the city, indeed, had an ordinance that addresses dumping. She said she recently confirmed her suspicions with help from a friend familiar with municipal law. Carson found the ordinance and brought it to the attention of city officials. "No one could ever convince me that there wasn't an ordinance on the books," Carson said. City officials said they searched for the ordinance before but couldn't find it. "It was misindexed," City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said. Code Enforcement Officer Rick Jacobus couldn't be reached by phone for comment on Friday. As a result, Mozzy and Zavadak will have to secure permits before continuing their work. They must get approval from the planning commission and zoning hearing board. Both have received citations ordering them to stop the work until they get the permits. The men have hearings scheduled with the planning commission on Tuesday. Zavadak said he bought most of his property along Oakhill Drive from Carson in 2003, and that he informed her of the work he planned to do. He is trying to fill about 4 acres, he said. "She was completely aware of my plans," Zavadak said. Zavadak said he's tried to resolve his differences with Carson. He said he had a sit-down with Carson and Scarpiniti to discuss matters but the tension remained. "It's become a personal thing," Zavadak said. "I really want to reconcile this with her." Carson said she simply wants Zavadak and Mozzy to play by the rules. She's contacted the city's code enforcement department, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Westmoreland Conservation District about the matter. Carson said Zavadak dumped material into the ravine that isn't fit for backfilling, such as tires and shingles. "They're just things that shouldn't be used to fill in property," Carson said. "Every time he dumped something that wasn't supposed to be dumped, I'd report it to the code enforcement people." Carson said she's taken pictures to document the situation and claims that, since Mozzy and Zavadak were ordered to stop, there was dumping on at least one occasion. "I don't know where this is going," Carson said, "but I am not letting go of it because they have absolutely ruined our neighborhood with this." Mozzy said that Carson's claims that the work is devaluing her property are wrong. He said that when he's done extending his yard, his property will be worth much more than it was before he started. He said he's filling in less than an acre and almost is finished. Mozzy and Zavadak said they have complied with everything the county conservation district has asked of them, part of which included building rock filters to stop the flow of sediment into the Little Pucketa tributary. Conservation district official Ron Cronauer said he's visited the site several times and noticed some erosion, but didn't find anything that warranted a citation. "There were some erosion control problems," Cronauer said, "but they've done what we asked, and things are coming into compliance." However, after a visit to the site on March 22, Cronauer determined that Mozzy's property was in violation of DEP rules and the state's Clean Streams Law, according to a report filed by Cronauer. Mozzy was given until April 14 to fix the problems. He was ordered to repair one of the rock filters, remove sediment from the filters, seed and mulch the area he's filling in and submit an erosion-control plan. Mozzy said he's been working to meet the regulations. Mozzy had about 10 neighbors sign a petition stating that they had no problem with the project. "It doesn't bother me, as long as he gets her filled up," said Lloyd Stufft, who lives along East Hill Drive, across the street from Mozzy. Kim Treese, Carson's daughter, said she had no problem with the project at the beginning, but said it's taken too long. "We've been looking at this for several years," said Treese, an Oakhill Drive resident. "It's just a mess."

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