North Huntingdon planners reject auto parts store, retail building along Route 30
North Huntingdon planners Monday rejected a proposal to build an auto parts store and a retail building at the site of the Penn-Irwin Motel along Route 30 because of numerous deficiencies in the plan.
The plans that United Growth Capital Management LLC had submitted to North Huntingdon in July were incomplete, and several meetings were held with the PennDOT to discuss the project, but the developer had not presented a revised plan, Andrew Blenko, township planning director, told the planning commission. The developer informed the township it wanted the planners to deny the plan, Blenko said.
One deficiency found was that the slope of the road from the hillside to Route 30 was too steep, Blenko said.
United Growth had proposed a 6,800-square-foot building that would house an Auto Zone auto parts store and a 9,500-square-foot mixed-use tenant retail building on the .92-acre parcel.
The township had granted the developer three extensions from last fall to present the revised plans. The planning commission had to make a decision this month, or the plans would have been recommended to the commissioners for approval under state regulations, Blenko said.
The planning commission's denial will be presented to the North Huntingdon commissioners for the board's decision.
The property straddles the Irwin-North Huntingdon border. Mary Benko, Irwin Borough manager, said the borough's planning commission had not taken action on the development plans for the motel.
United Growth Capital Management, which is based in San Rafael, Calif., did not have a representative at the meeting.
The property has been owned by Gary and Deborah Salada since July 1995, according to records filed with the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds.
In other business, the planning commission recommended approval of plans by RWS Development Co. of North Huntingdon to build a branch office for Compass Savings Bank of Wilmerding at the site of the former Kerber Dairy on Rocky Road.
Developer Robert Shuster said that the bank branch would be 2,600 square feet, compared with 1,500 square feet for the dairy. Bernard Solomon, a planning commission member, said he believed the development was too big for the amount of space available.
The lot size meets the township's requirements, Shuster said.
Thomas Kerber, a member of the planning commission, voted to recommend approval of the plans. He had operated his family dairy at the .9-acre site for about 13 years before closing it in November. Kerber and his wife, Ellen, sold the property to Compass Savings Bank for $485,000 in November, according to the deed filed with the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds.
Thomas R. Zezyus, president of Compass Bank, said he hopes to begin construction with spring and have it completed in four or five months.
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.
