Current Conditions
37°F - CLEAR
(348) (198) (128) (60) (28) (14) (4) (3)
Last week, officials began what promises to be several rounds of conditional-use hearings on whether to allow an East Drumore Township developer to construct a 21,000-square-foot shopping center near the proposed site of the Drumore Crossings shopping hub near the corner of Holtwood Road and Route 272 in Buck.
Officials first announced at a May 7 meeting that they had received an application from developer Richard Wenger of East Drumore Township to build another shopping center, one slated to contain retail space, a convenience store and an unnamed fast-food restaurant.
For almost six years, residents have been watching a seemingly endless legal battle play out over the proposed 370,250-square-foot Drumore Crossings, which is widely rumored to contain a Wal-Mart.
During the first round of that center's conditional-use hearings in July 2004, a previous board voted to relinquish its decision-making powers on the shopping center to then-hearing officer Matt Creme.
At a May 28 hearing, however, the current Drumore board showed few signs of relinquishing its power a second time. On the other hand, by agreeing to call a halt to the proceedings after just two witnesses, it would appear that supervisors are expecting the proceedings to last for several weeks, if not months.
At the hearing, supervisors heard testimony from project manager Jeff Burkhart with the Lancaster civil engineering firm of David Miller Associates, who told elected officials that the proposed shopping center would be built along the west side of Route 272 at the site of a former Pontiac dealership at Buck.
He also told supervisors that, currently, the shopping center has no confirmed tenants, but that upon approval the developer hopes to contract with a convenience store, a fast-food restaurant, a retailer such as a furniture or card store and, possibly, a bank with a drive-up teller.
The shopping center, Burkhart said, would have two proposed entrances: one on Route 272 and another on Holtwood Road. It also would allow for motorists traveling north on Route 272 to turn left and cross a lane of traffic to enter the shopping center.
The proposed shopping center, Burkhart testified, does not yet have a lighting plan. Neither has the developer submitted a planning module to the state's Department of Environmental Protection. He also acknowledged that if Drumore Crossings is built, the second shopping center might have to reconfigure plans for its entrances and septic system.
"We don't want to provide any hardship to anyone who lives nearby," Burkhart said. "This is very similar to other uses in the area, (especially) seeing as how this site has been used as commercial space previously. We have designed this in accordance … with what's there now."
Though supervisors also heard brief testimony from engineer Pierre McCoy with the Mechanicsburg environmental consulting firm CMX Engineering — he testified about a preliminary hydrogeologic study and aquifer testing to make sure area water supplies are sustainable with the addition of the proposed shopping center — supervisors agreed to continue the proceedings at a later date because "there was so much still left to cover," Drumore chairman Colin McCauley said.
The date of the next hearing is expected to be announced at the next township meeting, to be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Drumore township building, 1675 Furniss Road.
