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2887 West Liberty Avenue
Dormont, PA 15216
(Across from PNC)
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Member American Association of Orthodontists
Dr. Babak Firouzi DMD
Center For Exceptional Dentistry, LLC
Pampering for Two
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Come in and receive a gift
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Please call or visit
www.easespa.net 250 Mt. Lebanon Blvd. Suite 201
Pittsburgh, PA 15234 412.344.7755
www.pittsburghaestheticsmiles.com
Judi Willson
Amick 192½ Castle Shannon Blvd.

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412.563.7510 one Client • one trainer • one Goal
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variety Of classes changing
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bodybalancepersonaltrainingstudio.com 20 Cedar Blvd., Suite 406
Mt. leBanon, Pa 15228
www.mtlebanon.org 33



story by laura pace lilley photos by renee rosensteel
More than 100 Mt. Lebanon
residents serve on a municipal
board, authority or ad hoc
committee, lending expertise
to elected officials and staff...

night shift
t’s late on a weeknight, after a long day at work, and the Mt. sultants augmented by life experience as moms and dads, negotia-
Lebanon Planning Board is wading through several hours tors, consumers, retirees and coaches.

As a result of all that work, the boards can offer informed recom-
worth of public comment. In front of each board member on
the dais is a mound of paperwork. After the board hears from mendations that help the commission to make decisions that will
everyone, it will deliberate and make a recommendation to benefit the most residents.

“The Mt. Lebanon Commission is working very hard to cre-
help the Mt. Lebanon Commission make an important deci-
sion about a new building to be constructed. A similar scene ate a participatory, inclusive and collaborative community,” says
plays out for the traffic board, as it hears residents’ requests for Municipal Manager Steve Feller. “An important part of this effort is
to increase the visibility and activity of the advisory boards. “
a speed hump, stop sign or one-way street.

Dan Miller, commission president, says it would be impossible to
In addition to monthly meetings, you may find the commu-
do his job without the work of the boards.

nity relations board handling a media-
tion between two neighbors who disagree,
“You are only able to vote in “Without the dozens of volunteers who
serve on our boards and authorities, the
organizing a Coffee with the Manager or
elections once a year,
municipality would quickly grind to a halt.

honing to-do lists that results in a commu-
Quite simply, five part-time commissioners
nity-wide quality-of-life forum that draws
but when you serve on a
could not just pick up all the work, all the
hundreds of people.

Over at the zoning hearing board meet-
board or authority, you ‘vote’ investigation and all the citizen input that
is put into their recommendations and
ing, members will consider residents’
virtually every day
decisions.” requests for variances from Mt. Lebanon’s
zoning ordinance, and eventually render
about the kind of community
BOARD WORK
written decisions that become legal docu-
Boards trace their existence to several
ments, a chore that requires listening to
you want to live in.”
sources. Because we have zoning require-
hours of testimony and reading volumes
—Manager Steve Feller ments, the Pennsylvania Municipalities
of legal literature as well as hearing from
Planning Code calls for a zoning hearing
the residents requesting the variance and
board to rule on variances and a planning
others who may support or oppose it.

These are examples of what takes place virtually every month in board to make recommendations on land development plans.

Mt. Lebanon on our 15 advisory boards and authorities and two But in Mt. Lebanon, as in many other communities, the required
ad hoc committees, where a total of 105 residents regularly share boards and authorities go beyond the bare-bones requirements
their expertise for no pay and even less sleep, at times. It’s a wide laid out in the code, and Mt. Lebanon has many more boards and
swath of volunteers, many of whom have professional backgrounds authorities than the planning code requires. The Mt. Lebanon
as lawyers, architects, designers, preservationists and financial con- Planning Board, for example, reviews recommended changes to the
34 mtl • january/february 2011