Dollar General store OK'd for Oak Road site in West Deer

Plans for a new Dollar General store in West Deer have won final approval.

Township supervisors unanimously approved the site plan that Timothy H. Weinman, president of Penntex Ventures LLC, presented. Penntex is a developer for the Dollar General chain of discount stores.

The store will be built on 1.5 acres of vacant land along Oak Road, near the intersection with Locust Street in the township's Bairdford section.

“Your approval this evening will allow us to spend over $1 million in private money in your community,” Weinman told the supervisors Wednesday.

According to Weinman, the store will be a masonry and glass building encompassing 9,100 square feet.

“We're going to employ 12 to 14 local residents,” he said.

The township planning commission recommended approval of the site plan, with conditions related to concerns that nearby residents raised. Those concerns primarily dealt with light from the store, and whether it would be a distraction.

The planning commission recommended a revised landscaping plan to screen lights at the store from the neighborhood.

Weinman said the revised plan includes “tons of landscaping” with more than 100 trees and shrubs to be planted which will provide “a green wall.”

Also, the planning commission recommended the store's lighted marquee sign be turned off when the store closes at 9 p.m. each night, to further cut down on light from the store.

The only other condition set forth by the planning commission was installation of a bicycle rack, which Penntex also agreed to.

Construction of the store is expected to start by spring. Dollar General operates more than 14,000 stores in 44 states; there are about a dozen stores in the Alle-Kiski Valley and nearby areas.

Tom Yerace is a freelance writer.