Silver Spring approves Costco development off Carlisle Pike, with estimated summer 2025 opening (2024)

The Silver Spring Township supervisors late Wednesday voted to approve the preliminary/final subdivision and land development plan for a Costco Wholesale Warehouse at the corner of the Carlisle Pike and Hempt Road.

According to township officials, it’s estimated that Costco could open in summer 2025. It’s expected to bring in 250 jobs, half full-time and half part-time.

The plan calls for a 161,141-square-foot building and a gas station for the members-only business. The plan shows no entrances to the property off the Carlisle Pike, but rather off Hempt Road, Roaring Fork Road and Lexus Lane surrounding each of the other sides of the parcel.

After getting approval from the township planning commission on the final development plan, the only issue with approval from township supervisors Wednesday night was the request for a waiver on sidewalks. Costco’s plan only called for sidewalks along Hempt Road, but not on any of the other three roads.

Supervisor David Lenker voiced his concern about the lack of sidewalks, especially with a forthcoming residential development south of that property, and the general lack of pedestrian safety in the township following years of not requiring sidewalks.

With talks still ongoing about a potential tunnel or bridge over the Carlisle Pike that would connect the Cumberland Valley School District campus with the former Hempt Farm land, Lenker suggested that the board defer sidewalk requirements on the Carlisle Pike and Roaring Fork Road, but require up to two crosswalks on Lexus Lane that would connect Costco to the nearby car dealership.

The final plan, along with the waivers, was unanimously approved by the board.

Traffic concerns

While developers and Costco officials assuaged Supervisor Nancy Konhaus Griffie’s concerns about high-volume morning traffic with the school campus nearby – Costco opens at 10 on weekdays and not during the morning rush hour – there were still other concerns about how increased traffic will affect the area.

A number of residents asked for the township to consider a traffic study that would affect more than the 1-mile area of the business.

That area will already see significant change, both because of Costco and due to last year’s approved HSS Investors LLC’s development of three warehouses on the former farmland. Township Manager Ray Palmer warned residents that Hempt Bridge/Road will be closed starting June 1 as both projects undergo construction. That road will be closed for a minimum of six months, Palmer said.

“There is no detour; no way to get around that,” he said.

Palmer said there are plans for a “temporary” roundabout at Hempt Road/State Road and Texaco Road, though not all supervisors were in agreement Wednesday on the use of money and grant funding for a temporary rounadabout and the paving needed to handle larger vehicles. The plan is to make that a larger, permanent roundabout, for which the township won’t need to pay.

Vehicle traffic avoiding construction, or avoiding the new warehouse traffic, was a concern for township resident Richard Rosen. He asked supervisors early in Wednesday’s meeting to delay approval for Costco for one month, saying that one month shouldn’t hurt the development as it is not scheduled to move forward with construction until later.

Rosen said a public hearing where residents could see the plans and talk to each other about other routes, including Wertzville Road, where traffic could increase, would be beneficial and helpful for residents, similarly to how the township handled its public works building plans.

Planning commissioner Randy Duncan also had concerns about the current state of some roads, including in the Green Ridge Elementary School area where he lives. Duncan said that area already sees a lot of traffic, especially from Perry County, which increases when there is a crash on Interstate 81, forcing traffic onto Wertzville Road, Route 11 and Route 114. Duncan said he’s seen traffic return to Perry County when the backlog is too long, and there is little room for larger vehicles, such as tractor-trailers and school buses.

Among the ideas Duncan had to improve traffic in the area is to ask for a new exit off Interstate 81 at North Locust Point Road, which would more directly get to the Carlisle Pike.

Supervisor Laura Brown, however, said that idea was a nonstarter. She said that area is all farmland and includes a preserved farm.

“I really don’t see that as a viable option,” she said.