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But that plan by Tobacco Road Associates took a step toward the starting blocks last week, receiving a time extension from East Hempfield Township that encouraged the developer, Tom Spano.
"Hopefully, within 60 days we can get something done, because the (economic) atmosphere's getting a lot better," Spano, of Concordville, said after Wednesday's East Hempfield supervisors' vote.
The supervisors had just approved reinstating the plan.
The supervisors had discussed the issue at their previous meeting Sept. 2 but delayed making a decision until all five board members were present to vote on it. The 4-1 vote gives Spano 90 days to record the plan — an extra 90 days in a plan that goes back several years.
Tobacco Road Associates has been seeking to redevelop the warehouse at 191 Broad St., Landisville, into a 66-unit, $10 million condominium project. The plan would include one-, two- and three-bedroom condos, with starting prices around $135,000, and "everything's exactly the same" as planned previously, Spano said.
One supervisor, Heidi Wheaton, said she was worried about setting a precedent in approving the time extension, and cast the only no vote.
"I'm personally opposed to it because we haven't offered (the time extension) to anyone else," she said.
But another supervisor, Bernard Krutsick, said that "under the circumstances, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't give him the time.
"To me, it makes sense. … We need more development like this in the township."
And there have been some "extremely unusual circumstances," Spano's attorney, Chris Underhill, noted in asking for the extension Sept. 2.
"As for 'setting a precedent,' if you can point to another plan that has had to face these challenges, then you would have a precedent," he said.
"I can't imagine these unique circumstances could occur at any other time."
They include a battle over ownership that went to U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. District Court for the Pennsylvania Eastern District, then Spano had to resolve the ownership of a narrow strip of land that had evidently been overlooked by previous owners in a "quiet title" action, Underhill told the supervisors.
"By the time we finished the bankruptcy litigation and the quiet title action (which took a year and a half), we were in the economic downturn," Underhill said, which has hit developers hard.
A former employee, Gary Wilson, had posed as a president of the firm even after he didn't work there any more, and collected company funds through a bank account he had opened, according to newspaper records.
He was later sentenced to probation and ordered to pay back the more than $7,000 he stole, the newspaper records state.
Tobacco Road Associates had bought the warehouse building seven years ago.
Underhill was successful in district court in getting Wilson and his attorney to pay all attorneys' fees, but it took two years, he said.
The Landisville warehouse has not been used for anything for many years, and most township officials are glad to see a plan to rehabilitate it for housing with a parking garage attached.
"The majority of the board felt this was a very worthwhile project," Supervisor Chairman John Bingham said, "but the difficulty was getting it to actually happen."
Spano had an approved plan from the township, but was not able get the plan recorded because he could not post a financial guarantee, and the plan technically expired.
The supervisors' vote Wednesday reinstated the plan with conditions that the developer posts guarantees before applying for any building permits, township officials said.
E-mail: doconnor@lnpnews.com
