WINDBER — A controversial new Sheetz store project moved ahead Wednesday with conditional recommendation by the borough planning commission.
The Altoona-based company must satisfy PennDOT requirements, get its stormwater management plan approved, review utility easements and consider several visual enhancements.
“We do not disagree with any of the conditions,” Sheetz attorney John Kacher said.
Kacher and other Sheetz representatives answered a series of 13 concerns raised by the planning commission, including flood-plain, traffic, lighting, and fuel storage issues.
The commission asked whether the traffic study reflected peak flows created by events at the nearby community building and railroad traffic coming through the borough.
“When we submit a traffic study, we can’t say we think it’s busy on these days or those days,” said Ronald A. Sybert Jr., engineering manager with Trans Associates of State College. PennDOT directs the times and days, he noted.
Sensors will control the traffic and keep cars from waiting on the tracks, he said. Sheetz will upgrade all four corners of the 15th Street and Graham Avenue intersection with wheelchair ramps, crosswalks and pedestrian signals.
On a suggestion by Virginia Pruchnik, Kacher said the company would consider incorporating a false-front design into the side of the store facing Graham Avenue.
Wednesday’s 4-1 vote to recommend the project came less than two months after the planning commission rejected the site plan, asking for information on traffic studies and compliance with the borough’s comprehensive plan.
The Feb. 13 meeting included lengthy comments and questions from the public – many opposed to a modern convenience store in the heart of the historic business district.
“This was a little more structured meeting,” developer R. Michael Boland of Somerset said after Wednesday’s approval.
The borough can’t require a developer to follow the comprehensive plan unless it is incorporated in zoning and planning ordinances, commission Solicitor William Seger said Wednesday.
“The plan is a wish list,” Seger said. “If they are complying with the ordinances, that’s what they are required to do.”
Boland obviously was pleased with Wednesday’s recommendation, in contrast to his angry presentation at Tuesday’s borough council meeting.
There, he defended the project as a legal use in a commercial district, blasting those who criticized the current property owners for selling their real estate.
Local News
Sheetz project gets blessing from Windber planning panel
- Local News
-
-
Proposed bill would expand use of traffic-light cameras
Some call it the hand of “big brother,” others are convinced cameras at signal lights would be effective in curbing red-light runners and ultimately saving lives.
-
Minister's trial date set
An issue has been resolved over the report from an examination of a girl allegedly taken by her mother to a Bedford motel to have sex with a traveling minister, clearing the way for a trial.
-
AP: Almost half of new veterans seek disability
America’s newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.
-
Geistown beginning crime watch program
Residents will patrol Geistown streets in the coming weeks as part of a community watch program.
-
Persons of the Week: Nanty Glo vets will remember fallen comrades
Michael Kurtz, Tom Kasecky and Steve Kasecky will be among members of the Loy A. Douglass Post 3489 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Nanty Glo who will be honoring fallen veterans today, Memorial Day.
-
AG candidates face potential conflicts of interest
Both candidates for Pennsylvania attorney general have family ties that could pose a conflict of interest for the one who is elected as the state’s next chief legal officer.
-
Lawmakers: Capitol rallies unpersuasive
Nancy Richey stepped to the podium with a microphone at the Capitol rotunda with the hope that the right people would hear her message.
-
Richland closer to new chief
The search for Richland’s next police chief is winding down.
-
In brief: Thunderstorm downs trees, knocks out power
A late Sunday afternoon thunderstorm brought high winds, hard rain and hail to the Cambria-Somerset region.
- District Deaths May 28, 2012
- More Local News Headlines
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
