Tivolis in Penn Hills in line to become medical offices

Drs. Carolyn Kubik and Judith Albert specialize in helping bring new life into the world.

Now the physicians, whose practice focuses on treating infertility, are hoping to bring life back to a shuttered Penn Hills business.

The Penn Hills Planning Commission last week approved plans to turn the vacant Tivoli restaurant building on Rodi Road into offices for Reproductive Health Specialists. Tivoli closed in 2006 after 32 years in business.

The commission voted unanimously to approve the project. Commissioner Bruce T. Hall was absent from the meeting.

Kubik and Albert, who have been in practice together since 1992, have been renting office space in a plaza in the 600 block of Rodi Road since 2000.

"We need to make some changes, and we wanted to be able to do that in our own building," Kubik said. "We felt that if we did the things we wanted to do in the current building, we wouldn't be able to recoup the costs. Now, any investment we make is equity."

Kubik said the new offices will allow them to create a "more comfortable, welcoming and softer environment" for their patients.

Plans call for gutting the 12,000-square-foot building and using it as the foundation for the new facility.

Architect Peter F. Szymanski of Kimball Architecture declined to discuss construction details or the dollar values of the project.

Kubik and Albert bought the building in January for $170,000. It has a market value of $837,400, according to the Allegheny County records.

While neighbors are not generally opposed to the Tivoli site being redeveloped, concerns they raised prompted planners to add several conditions for work to proceed.

According to Daniel Sonon, who lives in the neighborhood surrounding the site, of the 62 residents contacted, 42 signed a petition opposing plans to install a driveway that lets vehicles enter and exit from Darrell Drive, which runs alongside the site. The facility also would have an opening onto Rodi Road.

The decision on whether to permit the driveway rests with the municipality's zoning hearing board, which would have to grant a variance. The zoning hearing board is scheduled to meet tonight to consider the request.

Sonon, who lives off Darrell on Hauck Drive, said neighbors consider the driveway a danger to children and worry that it would result in unnecessary traffic in the residential neighborhood.

"Don't get me wrong, I, and I believe most of my neighbors, want to see the building put to good use again," Sonon said. "We're tired of seeing the eyesore that's there now. But we don't feel we should have to suffer to make this project happen."

To avoid delays, commission Chairman Al Papa imposed several conditions that will apply should the zoning board approve the driveway request.

Papa ordered that the driveway be constructed in such a way that exiting vehicles can only turn right onto Darrell.

The design also would have to prevent traffic from entering the property from Darrell. A sidewalk also will have to be built along the street.

As a general condition for approval, the commission is requiring that outdoor light fixtures have shields and be placed on poles that are low enough to prevent them from shining into nearby homes.

Kubik said while they would like to have the driveway to Darrell to make it easier for emergency vehicles to enter and exit the property, the issue is not a deal breaker.

"We're committed to keeping our business in this community," said Kubik, who noted that the project still must be approved by state health officials.

"We understand the concerns and want to be good neighbors."