New plans are in the works for Giant site
Few details for now, but the board could field conditional use request
Township officials receive update on possible replacements for former Sumneytown Pike supermarket.
A new plan is now in the works for the site of the former Giant supermarket at Sumneytown Pike and Church Road in Upper Gwynedd.
Township Manager Mike Lapinski gave an update Tuesday to the township commissioners, saying a new plan could be up for conditional use approval as soon as next month.
“We got the application in a couple of weeks ago. We have 60 days to hold a hearing, so that hearing is scheduled for the August board of commissioners meeting,” said Lapinski.
The Giant site has been the subject of lengthy conversation since early 2015, when the supermarket at that store was one of several in the area closed by that company. Starting in May 2016, developer Hartford Properties began showing plans for a Royal Farms fuel station, convenience store, and several retail buildings to be built on that site. Over the following two years, several versions were vetted and discussed, with the applicant adding and then removing a small hotel on that site.
In May 2017 the commissioners approved a plan with four small retail buildings surrounding the fuel station and convenience store, and last fall asked the board for permission, which they received, to subdivide the roughly 4.5-acre lot into three smaller parcels. That plan is back on the drawing board now, Lapinski and Planning and Zoning Officer Van Rieker said Tuesday, since a recent change in township zoning codes means applicants seeking to add uses in the township’s commercial zone now must file for conditional use approval from the board.
“The uses are enumerated in our code for the commercial use: it’s restaurants, shops, but we don’t know any tenants yet, other than the Royal Farms,” Lapinski said.
“We don’t know anybody yet, but we may find out soon as this process moves on. Maybe in the August hearing — finally, this site is moving forward,” he said.
The most recent site plan approved in 2017 would have the fuel station’s canopy pumps located on the southwest corner of the lot closest to the intersection of Sumneytown and Church, with the convenience store located just to the north, then two adjacent retail buildings on the north end of the site, parallel to Sumneytown and perpendicular to Church, and two other adjacent retail buildings on the east side, facing Church and perpendicular to Sumneytown.
“The egresses are the same: one onto Church Road, both ways, left and right, and right-in and right-out only onto Sumneytown Pike,” said Lapinski.
With the updated application now filed, Lapinski told the board, township staff will gather comments from their engineering consultant, special counsel, and special zoning officer who have handled the ongoing talks about plans for that site. The attorney for the applicant has also asked the board to issue a preliminary opinion, and Lapinski and solicitor David Onorato said they did not yet know specifics on what the applicant wants the board to rule on.
“Typically if there is an issue that the applicant wishes to be decided by the township, they ask for a preliminary decision or opinion on the zoning issue, an interpretation, and that gets publicized,” Onorato said.
“If anyone has a problem with that, they can appeal that — any aggrieved party. I don’t know what issue is involved here, but it’s usually an interpretation that the project meets a certain criteria,” he said.
Board President Ken Kroberger asked if the project would also need zoning approval from the board, and Rieker and Lapinski said it would not, because of the early 2017 approval, but the sign package in the new application could need a separate approval.
“Do we have to have a separate conditional use (hearing) for each of the buildings, or can we have one for all?” Kroberger asked.
“One. There will be one hearing in August, you’ll make your decision, there’ll be an appeal period, and then we would do a resolution of approval, a conditional use decision, following up,” Lapinski answered.
Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7:30 p.m. on July 23, and the conditional use hearing for the Giant site could be heard during their meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 27, both at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place.
“We got the application in a couple of weeks ago. We have 60 days to hold a hearing, so that hearing is scheduled for the August board of commissioners meeting.” — Township Manager Mike Lapinski