When you tour new construction in Marshall Township, the tree line behind the lot often looks like it comes with the house. Usually it doesn't. Under Marshall's zoning, most new subdivisions of any size are built as clusters of homesites surrounded by protected greenway. That greenway generally stays in one undivided piece, and it's owned by a homeowners association, a land trust, a recognized conservation group, or the township.
That single rule shapes nearly everything a buyer sees in Marshall's new-home market. It sets how many houses a parcel can hold, why communities sell out in small batches, why entry prices sit near $1 million, and why the HOA documents deserve as much of your attention as the floor plan.
The Sentence in the Zoning Code That Draws the Map
Marshall's zoning ordinance has three residential districts: Conservation Residential, Suburban Residential, and Medium-Density Residential. The township describes CR land as having "steep slopes, open spaces and forested areas, limited access to public water and sewer," and it names conservation subdivisions as "the preferred development choice" there.
In practice the preference works as a requirement. The Marshall Township zoning ordinance says:
Conservation subdivision design shall be utilized for any major subdivision of at least 10 acres in area within the Conservation Residential (CR) and Suburban Residential (SR) zoning districts.
Smaller minor subdivisions that add no new streets are exempt. Any tract large enough to become a real neighborhood, with new roads and dozens of homes, goes through the conservation design rules. Those rules start by deciding how many homes the land is allowed to hold.
How the Township Counts Houses Before Anyone Draws a Lot
Under the cluster option, the number of homes isn't based on the parcel's full acreage. The ordinance works it out in steps:
- Start with the gross tract area.
- Subtract "constrained land." That includes existing street and utility rights-of-way and land under private streets. It also includes a discounted share of natural features, such as 0.9 of designated wetlands and 0.7 of slopes steeper than 25%.
- What's left is the "adjusted tract area."
- Multiply that by the district's density factor, which is 1.00 for single-family clusters in CR and 2.25 in SR, then round down.
A hilly, wooded parcel, the kind the township describes when it defines CR land, can lose a meaningful share of its acreage before the count even starts.
After the count, the plan has to set land aside. A cluster subdivision must preserve greenway equal to at least 40% of the adjusted tract area, plus the constrained acreage. The ordinance sets that 40% for the single-family configuration in CR and for cluster subdivisions in SR. At least half the lots must back onto greenway or sit across the street from it.
Here's how the cluster lots compare with the township's conventional lot sizes:
| District and option | Minimum lot area | Maximum gross density |
|---|---|---|
| CR, conventional single-family | 50,000 sq. ft.; 60,000 sq. ft. without public sewer and water | 0.75 units per acre |
| CR, cluster single-family | 15,000 sq. ft. | Set by the configuration chosen |
| CR, country lot | 3 acres, with a building envelope of no more than one acre | 0.25 units per acre |
| SR, conventional single-family | 20,000 sq. ft.; 40,000 sq. ft. without public sewer and water | 2.0 units per acre; 1.0 without public sewer and water |
| SR, cluster single-family | 5,500 sq. ft. | 2.25 units per acre |
The cluster option puts the permitted houses closer together. A CR cluster lot can be as small as 15,000 square feet, less than a third of a conventional CR lot, and the land saved becomes shared greenway. So a buyer can end up on a modest private lot with what feels like acres of woods behind it. Those woods belong to the community, or to whoever the plan names, not to the buyer.
The Reserve at Marshall Shows the Math at Full Scale
The largest current example is The Reserve at Marshall, developed by Moritz Development. According to the developer, the community covers 169 acres, has 121 homesites, and preserves 80 acres of green space. Infinity Custom Homes is building 117 of the homes, and Moritz is keeping two estate lots and two custom homes.
By our own math, that's about 0.72 homes per gross acre, just under the 0.75 cap on conventional CR lots. Nearly half the land stays undeveloped. The other 89 acres hold every lot, driveway, and street, which averages out to about three-quarters of an acre per homesite with roads and driveways included.
Putting the land together took real effort. Moritz says it bought 12 tax parcels from nine different owners and took the project through what it calls "a challenging entitlement process." It also calls the site "one of the final prime development opportunities" in the North Allegheny School District. As of October 2026, Moritz lists infrastructure construction as underway and Phase 1 as under construction. Infinity markets the community as now selling, with prices starting at $1,033,000.
The mailing address is Baden, PA 15005, even though the land is in Marshall Township. In this part of the North Hills, it's worth confirming the municipality on the parcel record rather than going by the post office name.
Who Holds the Woods, and Who Pays for Them
This is where the zoning rule turns into a transaction question. The ordinance lets greenway be owned and maintained by a homeowners association, a land trust, a conservation organization the township recognizes, or Marshall Township itself. Each of those owners can mean different upkeep, different access, and different costs for the people living next to it.
Marshall's subdivision and land development chapter fills in more detail. A developer has to submit a greenway ownership and management plan showing each area's boundaries and acreage, its proposed owner, who will maintain it, and how it will be managed. If common land isn't deeded to the township, the association documents have to cover ownership and responsibilities. They must also make every homeowner a member automatically, split operating costs on a pro-rata basis, and explain how those costs are collected and enforced.
For a buyer, that means the woods behind a new Marshall home can come with a share of the cost of looking after them. How big that share is depends on who owns the greenway and what the management plan asks of them. None of the builder pages for these communities publish an HOA fee, so you'll need the association documents and the recorded management plan to get the number and the obligations.
Four things to get in writing before you commit to a lot:
- Who owns the greenway next to the lot: an HOA, a land trust, a conservation organization, or the township.
- What the recorded greenway management plan says about upkeep in that particular area.
- How the association splits and collects operating costs, and what the current budget looks like.
- Where the lot line actually falls compared with the tree line you saw on the tour.
This post is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Have a real estate attorney review the association documents and recorded plans for your specific lot before you rely on them.
What the Price Sheets Show as of Late October 2026
These are the current builder listings in Marshall, as of late October 2026. Builder inventory changes quickly, so treat them as a snapshot.
| Community | Builder | Listed starting price | Status on the builder's page |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Reserve at Marshall | Infinity Custom Homes | $1,033,000 | Now selling; Phase 1 under construction |
| Sonoma Heights | Infinity Custom Homes | $1,043,000 | One homesite remaining |
| Autumn Grove | Eddy Homes | $1,107,900 | 12 homesites; plot plan shows 11 sold |
| Spring Way | Eddy Homes | $908,900 | Advertised quick move-in at 103 Amaryllis Lane marked sold on its own page |
The pattern lines up with the zoning rules. Autumn Grove is a 12-homesite community, and Eddy describes its lots as backing onto protected green space. Sonoma Heights advertises half-acre-plus lots and shows Lot 30 at 0.59 acres with a $5,000 lot premium. Its Cambridge model is offered for $2,649,000 with immediate move-in. Spring Way's quick move-in, 103 Amaryllis Lane, was advertised at $1,499,400 before it was marked sold.
Smaller communities sell out fast, and The Reserve is the one large pipeline in view. Taken together, the starting prices put the entry point for new construction in Marshall at roughly $900,000 to $1.1 million as of October 2026. Finished homes and model homes run well above that.
A Short FAQ
Does every new subdivision in Marshall have to follow the conservation design rules? No. The requirement covers major subdivisions of at least 10 acres in the CR and SR districts. Minor subdivisions that add no new streets are exempt, and the MDR district follows separate standards.
Can greenway land be split up and added to individual lots? The ordinance says greenway land "shall generally remain undivided." Ask the builder for the recorded plat for your lot to see exactly where the boundary falls.
Why do some Marshall lots need more land than others in the same district? Lot minimums go up when a lot has no public sewer and water. In CR, the conventional minimum rises from 50,000 to 60,000 square feet. The Marshall Township Municipal Sanitary Authority says its GIS maps or its manager can confirm whether a property is in its service area.
If you're comparing new-construction lots in Marshall Township and want to know who owns the land behind the one you like, Robin Taylor Homes can help you get the recorded plans and association documents before you write an offer. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll go through them with you lot by lot.
