Plans for a Costco Wholesale store on the Carlisle Pike in Silver Spring Township have moved forward.
The store would sit on an 18-acre property that is owned by Silver Spring Township-based Ferris Land Development. The property is across the Carlisle Pike from Faulkner Cadillac and the Cumberland Valley School District complex.
Costco plans to build a fueling station. But, because the potential fueling station and the school district property would be within 300 feet of each other, the township’s ordinance had to be changed for the project to move along.
The township ordinance required that a gasoline dispensing facility shall be set back at least 300 hundred feet from any lot containing a school, day-care facility, park, playground, library, hospital or nursing, rest or retirement home; and from any lot containing a park or playground that is not accessory to the aforementioned habitable buildings.
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The redrafted proposed text amendment ordinance presented at Wednesday night’s Silver Spring Township supervisors meeting proposes that the gas station be at least 300 feet from any habitable building on a lot containing a school, day-care facility, park, playground, library, hospital or nursing, rest or retirement home.
Silver Spring Township supervisors approved the new ordinance 3-1. Supervisors Carl Machamer, Nancy Konhaus Griffie and Laura Brown voted in favor of the proposed ordinance. Supervisor Harry Kotzmoyer Jr. voted against the proposed ordinance. Supervisor David Lenker II was absent.
The vote allows Costco to build a fueling station in its desired location ultimately moving the project forward. Costco still has to submit a land development plan, which would also ultimately have to be approved by township supervisors.
Township resident Glenda Farner was one of the residents that spoke out against the new ordinance before the vote.
“To downgrade the distance is doing a disservice to the children in this community,” Farner, said via Zoom.
But, on the flip side, Dave Getz, an attorney for the applicant noted that the school district has said it has a gas tank on its own property, and he told the supervisors that the updated ordinance has been reviewed carefully.
“I believe the proposed text amendment has been carefully crafted and reviewed by your staff to be convinced that the safety of the public will not be harmed by this amendment,” he told the supervisors.
Supervisor Kotzmoyer said that he has heard from residents about potential traffic issues.
“I’ve gotten comments from the community that if Costco would go in there … traffic would be horrendous and I tend to agree,” he said.
Supervisor Konhaus Griffie said that she put a lot of thought into updating the ordinance and has spoken to safety experts. She said the Carlisle Pike is where this new facility should be.
“As many people who have spoken against this, there are many, many more people that don’t come [to the meetings], that are for this, and have been for this for a long time,” she said. The point is, this is the Carlisle Pike. We had always agreed in all of our comprehensive plans that our commercial development would be on the Carlisle Pike, not on some side road. This is where the commercial district should be.”
Plans for the new store show the facility would be at least 151,000 square feet situated on a property between the Carlisle Pike and Roaring Fork Road and between Hempt Road and Lexus Lane. It would include 804 parking spaces including 17 handicap-accessible spaces.
Costco stores range from 80,000 square feet of space to 230,000 square feet of space. The average size is 146,000 square feet, according to the company’s website.
The timeline for a new store is unclear.
“We cannot comment on locations that will be opening more than three months from today,” Costco says on its website.
Costco’s membership warehouses carry an assortment of groceries, candy, appliances, automotive supplies, tires, toys, sporting goods, jewelry, cameras, books, housewares, apparel, furniture, and office equipment among other items. Costco warehouses generally are open seven days a week.
Costco has more than 845 stores in 13 countries including a store on Jonestown Road in Lower Paxton Township.
--Business Buzz
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