New PennDOT facility plans now on paper
By WENDY STIVER — wstiver@lockhaven.comArticle Photos
The commission studied projects ranging from a 21st-century church to a 20-lot residential development Tuesday evening and saw the plans for PennDOT’s proposed new maintenance facility in Lamar Township.
The six-building facility off Auction Road is designed to eventually replace the Clinton County maintenance building in Lock Haven, according to Jason Fralick with HRG engineering firm.
The primary structure is to be 31,000 square feet and have a garage base, according to Fralick. It is designed as a service garage for trucks and other equipment and also would contain offices.
Salt and brine storage areas also are shown on the plan.
The site is to be served by Suburban Water Authority and hooked onto the East Nittany Valley Joint Municipal Authority’s sewer system. Both services will be extended across the highway from the Lamar Township Business Park.
“We see some good in getting the water and sewer lines across Route 220 to Auction Road,” County Planner Tim Holladay said.
A question that still looms large is how the facility would impact Fishing Creek.
The Clinton County Conservation District needs to approve the plan, Holladay said. It also came with what he called “the most complicated stormwater management plan I’ve ever seen.”
He suggested an engineer review it and make recommendations.
The facility has been on the drawing board since at least 2005, Fralick said, and construction bids will likely come in higher than budgeted. To save money, PennDOT may drop some of the out-buildings for now or forego some of the paving.
“I would hate to see this project not be done in total,” Thomas Campbell, a PennDOT retiree, told his fellow planning commission members.
It’s going to be harder to trap chemicals dripping off maintenance equipment in an unpaved parking area, he said.
The facility will be a focal point for I-80 maintenance and, as such, will be a major installation, commission member David Glessner said.
The planners recommended all work areas be paved to stem run-off and all the pieces needed for stormwater management be built right away.
The stormwater management system is already included in the first phase of the project, Fralick said.
Jennifer Savitz, who wrote the stormwater plan, also attended the meeting from HRG. The proposal will go in front of the Lamar Township Planning Commission tomorrow.
STADIUM HEIGHTS
Frank Mills and engineer Stan Wallace of Nittany Engineering Associates LLC, presented plans for Stadium Heights Development, 20 lots on 30 wooded acres above the upper driveway of Central Mountain High School.
Mills is to be the developer and exclusive builder for the hilltop project.
Bald Eagle Township has rezoned the area and a residential development is permitted, Wallace told the planners.
Houses in Stadium Heights would probably be built with set-backs greater than the required 20 feet, Wallace said, and would sit on both sides of the upper section of Keystone Central Drive. They would be hooked onto the public sewer system.
Each lot would need its own well, however, since Suburban Water Authority can’t supply water to the hilltop without building a new pump station.
Glessner called for a hydrogeologic study to show that each lot would have enough water flow.
“It’s part of a hot spot of growth in our county,” he said.
The first well will be drilled soon, Mills said, and after much discussion, the commission recommended waiting to see what sort of yield that well has. If it is adequate, a study may not be needed.
The planners also agreed with Wallace that a private road would be a better way to access some of the lots instead of using Keystone Central Drive.
The township apparently does not want to take over any roads inside the development, Mills said, and his plan is to stone the roads, not pave them.
A homeowners’ association would be established to maintain them, he said.
The commission recommended each lot owner write a $100 check for the homeowners association at closing so the association is set up and ready to take over once enough lots have been sold.
The recommendations now go to the township.
NEW CHURCH
Flemington First Church of Christ proposes to build a state-of-the-art domed structure that would contain its sanctuary, a multi-purpose room, offices, a kitchen and more on its property in Allison Township.
The property is zoned agricultural-industrial so a church is permitted.
The project also includes 111 parking spots as well as a gravel area for overflow parking, the planners heard, which should be plenty.
The commission approved the plan, with the conditions the church obtain the following letters:
— From Suburban Water Authority stating it can provide water to the site
— From the Clinton County Conservation District regarding erosion and sediment control
— From the state Department of Environmental Protection regarding sewer tap-on.
CVS, QUALITY OUTLET
Holladay reported on the proposed new CVS drug store to be built at Bellefonte Avenue and Commerce Street.
The building and parking lot project would demolish the former Drive-Plus building and Quality Outlet.
Jason Roberts, the outlet’s owner, plans to build a new structure for the outlet back from the avenue, next to Your Building Center. The location would not have quite enough off-street parking spaces, Holladay said, but Roberts is expected to apply for a variance.
The outlet currently has no off-street parking, he added.
A coffee shop has been proposed for a building in the same block, next to Wendy’s Restaurant, the county planner noted.
“They’re squaring up the plots by YBC,” he said, “The old, derelict buildings back there will be gone.”
CVS would have an entrance along Bellefonte Avenue as well as one off Commerce Street leading to its drive-through. Traffic would be required to turn right onto the avenue when leaving the lot through that access.
The plans include landscaping, Holladay said, and CVS is willing to invest in the historic streetscape features now being installed along the avenue and bring the look around the corner onto that side of Commerce Street.
YBC and the Rosemeier family each own half of that section of Commerce Street up to the traffic light, Holladay said.
Campbell pointed to the poor visibility and generally poor design at the intersection of Commerce and Stone Alley, behind Citizens’ Hose House.
He recommended the Commerce Street entrance to the CVS lot be lined up with Stone Alley so it would be a straight shot for alley traffic, and the commission officially made that recommendation when it approved the plans.
PLANNERS UPDATE
Holladay also introduced Lock Haven native Gregg Smith, formerly with the state Fish and Boat Commission, as the county’s new community planner.
And, he said, the planning office has applied for $500,000 for housing rehabilitation from the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
If the funding comes through, Holladay said, it will be used to target homes along Route 120, The Scenic Bucktail Trail, which should dovetail with the Pennsylvania Wilds marketing campaign.
