Seven Fields formed in controversy
There was no grist mill in a creek, no general store, no dirt streets and no horse and buggies in the story of Seven Fields' early years.
Rather, a bitter dispute between an out-of-town developer and the Cranberry Township supervisors formed the borough in 1983.
According to the dozens of articles in the Butler Eagle archives on the unusual beginnings of the borough, developer Thomas J. Reilly of McKeesport began the construction of Canterbury Village on the 515 acres of former Speer and Schenk farms in an area of Cranberry Township known as Seven Fields because of the fields that made up almost the entire .7 acres that is now the borough.
A Feb. 5, 1982, article detailed how the township supervisors voted to take legal action against Reilly if necessary to stop the development because the proper permits had not been issued for Canterbury Village and construction was ongoing.
In fact, Reilly had petitioned Butler County court in September 1981 to incorporate a separate borough on the land.In March 1982, former Judge John Dillon heard four hours of testimony on Seven Fields becoming the 23rd borough in the county, the last petition for such action having occurred in county court in 1927.The angered Cranberry Township supervisors testified that seceding from Cranberry Township was a bad idea because it would damage the township's future growth, fracture the community, result in negative tax flow because the new borough would be all residential, and such an action would set a dangerous precedent for other large developers.Dillon rejected Reilly's bid to incorporate Seven Fields as a new borough within a week, citing 'hindrance to the township's growth” and concerns regarding the availability of emergency services to the residents of a new borough.Battle continuesLess than two weeks later, Reilly's attorney filed 28 exceptions to Dillon's ruling.The developer went one step further in June 1982, when he appealed Dillon's rejection of incorporating a borough to Commonwealth Court.The township supervisors then filed documents at county court asking that the hearing on the township's complaint on ongoing construction be moved up.But Dillon ordered Cranberry Township to issue occupancy permits for the multifamily units that were built in Seven Fields, which by this time had 70 residents.In June 1983, Commonwealth Court approved the secession of Seven Fields from Cranberry and a small portion of Adams Township.As expected, the angry supervisors in July appealed the decision to state Supreme Court.Finally incorporatedBut the supervisors were forced to admit defeat on Aug. 25, 1983, when Dillon signed an order of incorporation making the .7 square mile Seven Fields an official borough in Butler County.An article from Oct. 21, 1983, announced that council members, a mayor, judge of elections and other officials would be elected in the next month's general election.At that time, 37 Democrats, 32 Republicans, and 16 residents of other political parties lived in Seven Fields, which became the county's 79th precinct.Although they had voted one year earlier to eliminate ambulance and fire service from Cranberry Township in the new borough, the Cranberry supervisors reluctantly voted in December 1983 to restore the two services in Seven Fields.Continued controversyWhile the borough struggled initially, with several council members and the solicitor quitting because they felt borough business was not being handled properly, Seven Fields has grown steadily since its controversial inception in the 1980s.In 1992, however, Reilly was convicted on 23 felony counts involving tax evasion and fraud surrounding the development of Canterbury Village in Seven Fields and spent four years in prison for what prosecutors described as a Ponzi scheme.Investors in Reilly's Seven Fields Development Corp. thought their money was going toward the development of condominiums and townhouses, but their “returns” were in reality new investment dollars collected from other investors.After Reilly's conviction, the investors took ownership of the Seven Fields Development Corp. and received about a third of their original investment amounts.The corporation dissolved in 2002 when the remaining undeveloped land in Seven Fields was purchased by two real estate companies.Population growth
Reilly was released from prison in 1997.Today, the bustling bedroom community remains mainly residential, but boasts many businesses, offices and restaurants, as well as parkland, a pool and a community clubhouse.According to the 2010 census, the borough has grown from its original population 38 years ago of 70 to 2,887 residents.More information on Seven Fields is available at sevenfields.org.
