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Walgreens/Starbucks project delayed again over boundary

Walgreens/Starbucks project delayed again over boundary

The proposed Walgreens-Starbucks construction project along Route 30 in North Huntingdon has been delayed again.

Township commissioners were scheduled to consider action on the sale or auction of a portion of the township's 84-acre public works complex property to Pittsburgh-based developer Walnut Capital Partners.

The commissioners, instead, decided they needed more time to review their options before moving forward.

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The action followed a lengthy, sometimes confusing debate triggered by Commissioner Richard Gray's concerns about whether stakes abutting the steep, sloping property that housed the former Chesterfield's Restaurant outline the boundaries properly.

The developer wants to purchase 6.5 acres of landlocked property that housed the former Maple Drive-in Theater to reduce storm-water management costs and improve aesthetics of the Walgreens-Starbucks site.

On May 5, the township planning commission voted to recommend approval of the subdivision and a revised project site plan to the township commissioners. Dan Palmer abstained.

Site and storm-water management plans, approved in the fall by the planners and commissioners, included an expensive underground collection box system with drainage down a sloping hill at the rear of the restaurant property.

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A 15-foot retaining wall was required to ensure stability of the slope.

The revised storm-water management plan calls for construction of a retention pond and elimination of the wall.

Mr. Gray and Mr. Palmer, owner of township-based Repal Construction Co., the project's general contractor, toured the property last week.

"I'm not sure the stakes properly define the boundary of the old Chesterfield's property," Mr. Gray said. "It isn't clear to me that the stakes we saw mark the position shown on the site plan."

Commissioner Lee Moffat expressed concerns about whether the proposed retention pond could be so close to an easement with high voltage lines running above the parcel.

Senior project manager Adam Law, of Hampton Technical Associates, and Mr. Palmer tried to clarify the boundaries of both properties.

Township Planning Director-Engineer Andy Blenko attempted to resolve the confusion with a revised site plan outlining the Chesterfield's property and the parcel the developer wants to purchase.

The commissioners again will review the subdivision and discuss the sale of the township-owned parcel during their June 12 workshop session. But they will not consider action until the regular meeting June 18.

The revised site plan does not affect the design of the two buildings or the proposed new intersection of Route 30 and Lincoln Way.

Mr. Law estimated that the land acquisition likely will delay the start of project construction by a couple of months. The target for completion is fall 2009.

A retail complex being developed by W.D. North Huntingdon Investors will include another Walgreens. That project, which is under way, is about 3 miles east on Route 30 at the entrance to Norwin Hills Shopping Center.

In unrelated action, the board unanimously agreed to allow residents to name a field in Oak Hollow Park Soccer Complex after Staff Sgt. David Wieger, a township resident who was killed Nov. 1 in Iraq.

Sgt. Wieger once captained the Norwin High School varsity soccer team.

Don Kattic, commander of North Huntingdon-Irwin Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 781, supported the residents' cause at last week's meeting. The VFW plans to install a plaque at the field.

First Published: May 29, 2008, 10:00 a.m.

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