WAL-MART MOVES FORWARD IN PERRY COUNTY, PA

Perry County inches toward ‘big box’ store [Patriot-News (Pa.)]

Perry County is one step closer to the construction of its first “big box” retail center.

But representatives of the developer, HAMM Equities LLC, of King of Prussia, are not saying what nationally known retailer will occupy the 46-acre site in Howe Twp. near the intersection of routes 332 and 34.

Last week, Howe Twp. supervisors granted preliminary approval to a subdivision plan, known as Buffalo Crossing, that cuts the 46 acres into six lots.

Randy Shearer, an engineer representing the developer, said the development would be anchored by a 25-acre lot where a 200,000-square-foot building would stand.

The plans for the subdivision need final approval from the township, and each building on the site would also need to be approved by the township.

The development would also contain a 60,000-square-foot strip mall and four other parcels for stores.

While HAMM officials are not saying what companies will occupy the site, speculation among local residents is nearly unanimous.

“My guess is, it rhymes with Wal-Mart,” said Walter Roberts of Newport. “There’s not many other things that big it could be.”

If Roberts is correct, Nancy Hoover of Newport said area residents would be spared a trip into Harrisburg or Mechanicsburg to shop.

“That would be great,” Hoover said. “It would save money on gas, and you wouldn’t have to spend all that time driving.”

HAMM bought the property near the Newport exit of Routes 22/322 for $950,000, in November 2006.

A traffic study for the complex calls for traffic signals at the on and off ramps of Route 322 and as many as three other signals along Route 34.

The developer would be responsible for the costs of the lights.

As a condition of its approval, the supervisors insist that HAMM set up a fund, to be controlled by the township, that would cover the approximately $32,000 a year it would cost to maintain the lights.

Supervisors also are insisting that HAMM hook the development onto public sewer lines, if the Newport Municipal Authority extends its lines to the site by the time construction begins.

Supervisor Wendy Brunner said that it could take as many as three or four years before construction begins at the site.

Howe Twp. is one of the county’s smallest municipalities with about 500 people in 201 households, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

The township has an operating budget of slightly more than $119,000 for the current year.

Posted by Joel Nezianya on Monday, July 14, 2008

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