South Fayette Commissioners say that when it comes to the abandoned Mayview State Hospital site, their interests are the same as everyone else's.

"It's not like we're against development of the property," commissioner Sue Caffrey said at the commissioners' meeting Monday night. "We've said all along that we want to look at proposals and will work with a developer. We just want to protect our interests."

The state Department of General Services, however, apparently is not so sure about that. With the commissioners poised to protect their interests by rezoning the property, the state agency Monday sent an e-mail saying it would sue if the commissioners acted.

Former General Services official John Paul Jones, who is now director of the Governor's Southwest Office in Pittsburgh, said, in a written statement, that the Commonwealth is looking out for the best interests of the taxpayers and added that any attempt to rezone the property will limit its marketability.

"Therefore, it is our intent to keep the property in its entirety as it now exists, and that any act to reverse this could result in litigation," Mr. Jones said. "We remain open to ideas and suggestions on reuse or transfer of the property that protects the interests of the taxpayers."

Ms. Caffrey said the department was misconstruing the commissioners' purposes.

"If we rezone it now, we can rezone it again," she said.

Commissioners Tom Sray, Greg Curl and Deron Gabriel voted to table the rezoning for a month, with Ms. Caffrey and Cindy Cox voting to push ahead.

"It's a game of give and take," Mr. Curl said after the meeting. "We're just giving a little."

Solicitor Jon Kamin said he was confident the commissioners have every right to change the property zoning, but that he advised against picking a fight.

The state closed Mayview at the end of last year, and a task force has been studying the best use of the 300-plus-acre property, which abuts Chartiers Creek on the South Fayette/Upper St. Clair border.

Mental-health activists have been lobbying for a sale at the highest possible price, with the money put toward mental health care, and state officials have expressed determination to do just that.

South Fayette officials are not opposed to getting the best price possible, but also have a responsibility to serve their community.

They would like to obtain the upper portion of the property -- the former geriatric center, which lies up a steep hill to the west of Mayview Road -- and add it to Fairview Park. They would like to see something other than housing on the main part of the property.

In October 2008, the commissioners changed the property's zoning from R-1 -- standard residential zoning -- to B-1, designed for business parks.

The further option was the CD-1 zoning designation, for "conservation districts." Designed for environmentally sensitive land, it allows commercial recreation such as a golf course and residential development with lots of at least five acres. They approved the concept in April, and had the upper portion of Mayview at the top of their list from the beginning.

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