Allegheny County officials have declined to intervene in a dispute between Swissvale and a county mental health contractor that placed 25 of its patients in apartments in the borough.

Pyramid Healthcare of Altoona, an addiction, mental health and adolescent behavioral treatment provider, rented apartments in two buildings last year.

The presence of the patients -- 20 men in an apartment complex at 1901 Hanover St., and five women at 1935-1937 Delaware Ave. -- immediately caused uproar in the community, with residents and borough officials accusing Pyramid of operating an illegal group home.

"They came in here and opened a group home without telling us what they were doing or what kind of people they were bringing into the community," said James Bonacci, a borough councilman who resigned this week in protest of the matter.

Mr. Bonacci, 67, a retired teacher and 40-year resident of Swissvale, decried what he called a county-funded scheme to place transitional housing and Section 8 residents in communities like Swissvale.

"I find it inconceivable that [county Chief Executive Dan] Onorato and County Council have chosen to ignore the voice of Swissvale, whose reservations about such activity are well-established and valid," said Mr. Bonacci, who urged the county to step in and help resolve the dispute between Swissvale and Pyramid at Tuesday's County Council meeting.

"It is clear that Swissvale and other Mon Valley communities are the target of these group home ventures on the part of the county," he said. He argued that because Pyramid is a county contractor, the county could control the company by ending its contract.

Kevin Evanto, Mr. Onorato's spokesman, said the county has no such control.

The county's Department of Human Services, which oversees the contract, "receives federal pass-through money, which we don't control. From our perspective, this is a dispute between the municipality and the health provider," Mr. Evanto said.

Pyramid is one of 39 drug and alcohol recovery providers currently under contract with the human services department to offer "stable housing for people who need it during recovery," said Chuck Keenan, the department's housing coordinator.

Allegheny County spends about $160 million a year to offer support and recovery services like housing to about 10,000 people with a wide range of mental illnesses and addictions, he said. That includes services like the housing offered in Swissvale, which has off-site treatment for drug and alcohol addiction recovery.

Bob Stumpp, a senior policy manager for the human services department, said it contracts with the health providers for "services and not housing."

"We are a social service entity. We expect our contractors to have cleared the ordinances they need in order to move into a community," he said.

The borough, which has already penalized Lobos Management -- owner of the apartments leased to Pyramid -- $1,000 per unit for renting out eight units without occupancy permits, contends that Pyramid is running a group home in a residential area.

As such, the health provider should have sought a conditional use permit through a public approval process, Mr. Bonacci said.

"Our problem is not group homes. We want them to come and offer good services. But we don't know who is living in those apartments. They could be felons or they could be people who need treatment," he said.

Citing the Fair Housing and Americans with Disabilities acts, Pyramid contends it was not required to seek the borough's approval because it is operating units "like any other individuals who are entitled to rent an apartment in a multifamily setting," said Bob Wratcher, an attorney representing the company.

The Swissvale zoning board, which has heard arguments by both sides, will announce its decision -- whether Pyramid is operating a group home -- at a 7:30 p.m. public hearing Tuesday.

Patricia McGrail, special counsel to Swissvale, said the borough's objection is that the health provider did not go through a public approval process that would require a decision by the planning commission and borough council.

She said that if Pyramid had done that, Swissvale could have placed some restrictions on how it would operate, but it most likely would have granted permission.

"There is at least one other group home operating lawfully in Swissvale because it went through a public approval process," she said.

Mr. Wratcher sees it as a back-door way for Swissvale to stop Pyramid from housing its patients in the borough.

"There is no definition in Swissvale's ordinances to distinguish between disabled apartment renters and nondisabled apartment renters. Swissvale is just trying to invent an ordinance that doesn't exist," he said, adding that Pyramid plans to appeal to Common Pleas Court if the zoning board rules against it.