Faced with a lawsuit alleging housing discrimination, Ross commissioners have made an offer to settle the dispute with developers of a housing plan to be built on Rodenbaugh Avenue.

Commissioners voted Monday night to approve the controversial project if the developers agree to withdraw their federal legal action.

As an added incentive, they offered to pay for paving a widened street where the developers seek to build 11 townhouse units.

In return, township officials want Trek Development Group and North Hills Affordable Housing Corp., which operates under the name HEARTH, to drop their claims for damages and attorneys fees. The suit was filed last Thursday.

John Ginocchi, director of development for Trek, said he could not comment on the township's offer because the matter was in the courts.

On Nov. 13, commissioners turned down a request from Trek and HEARTH for approval to build rental housing on five steep-sloped acres on the township's boundary with Pittsburgh. The land is zoned R-2, a designation in which multifamily housing is permitted.

The vote to approve the project was a 4-4 tie, meaning the request failed. Commissioners Daniel Kinross, Grace Stanko, Grant Montgomery and Peter Ferraro voted against the plans. Board President Lana Mazur and Commissioners Daniel DeMarco, Chris Eyster and David Mikec had voted for it. Commissioner Gerald O'Brien, in whose ward the project was proposed, was absent.

The project had proved controversial from the moment it was announced, with angry residents circulating petitions and filling the township building for meetings of the planning commission and the commissioners.

They told township officials they objected to lower-income renters living in their neighborhood of mostly single-family homes, and they warned of increased storm water and traffic problems.

Monday's vote to seek a settlement was 5-2, with Mr. O'Brien abstaining. He said he didn't want to vote on the proposal since he hadn't taken part in the original decision.

Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Kinross opposed the offer, while Mr. DeMarco, Mr. Eyster, Mrs. Stanko, Mr. Ferraro and Mr. Mikec voted for it. Mrs. Mazur was absent.

In their lawsuit, Trek and HEARTH claim that Ross violated federal fair housing laws and sought to discriminate against lower-income residents, including single women with children.

The proposed development, to be called HEARTH at Benet Woods, would be open to anyone who met its moderate-income guidelines. Rents would range from $600 to $900 per month for tenants with annual incomes up to $38,000, depending on family size.

Developers estimate that as many as 11,000 working families in the North Hills would qualify to live in the units.

The below-market rents were possible because the $2.8 million project would be built with the help of about $200,000 in federal tax credits.

In their lawsuit, the developers allege the commissioners were pressured by residents to vote against the project, even though it met the township's zoning, subdivision and development rules.

Their 23-page complaint includes comments made by residents during public hearings on the project.

"These women are going to have children," one resident said, according to the suit. "Even if they are minors, they're going to grow up to be teenagers. ... I don't want someone walking past my house, looking at two cars in the driveway, think[ing] perhaps there is money there and breaking in."

The suit calls residents' comments about storm-water runoff and the narrowness of the street pretexts for discrimination "based on the types of families that would live there."

The complaint includes a comment from township solicitor Bonnie Brimmeier advising commissioners and residents that "what the law mandates is that if a developer ... meets the requirements of the state, county and local laws ... we are not permitted as a township to deny them the development of their property."

"Nobody is happy about this," said resident Loretta Jelinek, who spoke at several meetings against the project. "But Trek put a gun to [the commissioners'] heads ... with the threat of high legal fees."

Even if the developers' suit is settled, she predicted future disputes. "Once they cut down trees on that lot, there will be worse storm water flooding," she said.

She said she was skeptical that Ross's run-off ordinance would be effective.

Under the township's offer, the developers would widen Rodenbaugh to 26 feet, then the municipality would pave it.

Plans also call for new storm sewer lines and underground detention tanks to collect and slowly release run-off from the site.