SANATOGA PA – A North Carolina-based supermarket chain with more than 1,500 stores in 16 states plans to open one of its newest – a Food Lion-brand grocery – in about 20,000 square feet of space in the 1400 N. Charlotte St., Pottstown PA, shopping center next to the Planet Fitness exercise club, Lower Pottsgrove Township planners learned Monday (June 21, 2010).
But the corporate owner, Delhaize America, wants to do it in a hurry, and that poses complications.
Joseph Orsatti, left, and Patrick Stuart of Orsatti and Associates discuss plans Monday for a Food Lion market in Lower Pottsgrove Township.
Joseph Orsatti, who represented shopping center developer Rosedon Development Co., said he came to the township Planning Commission’s meeting in hopes that board members would grant building permits for work to begin inside a vacant storefront where Food Lion would be located. In the meantime, Orsatti suggested, they could consider proposed changes to the center’s existing land development plan.
That won’t happen, he was politely told.
“We understand your time frame, and we certainly appreciate economic conditions,” commission Chairman Geoffrey Dailey empathized. “We’ll work expeditiously to help you,” he added. Dailey noted, however, the board had no authority to grant building permits, and the township could not authorize permits without plan approvals for which the commission is initially responsible.
Delhaize America has targeted an Oct. 1 (2010; Friday) deadline for opening the store, as one of 15 it wants to launch during the same week, Orsatti, of Orsatti and Associates in King of Prussia, explained. In addition to Food Lion, the company also operates Bloom, Bottom Dollar, Harveys, Hannaford Bros., and Sweetbay-branded grocery chains.
The shopping center, before its most recent renovation almost two years ago, had once been home to a Genuardi’s Supermarket and a Rickel’s Home Center. Genuardi’s moved out; Rickel’s filed for bankruptcy. The plaza sat vacant for years before Rosedon’s involvement.
At its projected size, the Food Lion would be about two-thirds the size of what the Genuardi’s was, Orsatti said after the meeting. Genuardi’s once occupied 32,000 square feet.
Rosedon’s renovations brought in Planet Fitness, and made significant changes to the center’s entrances and parking areas. To continue that work, Rosedon needed to get additional Pennsylvania Department of Transportation approvals for the traffic entrances, something township Assistant Manager Alyson Elliott said the developer considered too expensive at the time.
“They’re jumping up and running now that they’ve got a tenant,” Elliott said; Delhaize signed a lease for Food Lion’s occupancy in early April. PennDOT, however, may not be able to complete a review of the entrances until September, Orsatti said, and plan approvals and building permits that could then follow would be well past Delhaize America’s desired opening date.
The corner of North Charlotte Street and School Lane, at which the center is located, is busy at certain times but most often during weekday mornings and afternoons when Pottsgrove High School, located just east down School Lane, is in session.
Knowing what he faces, Orsatti said he would return to the commission next month – its meeting is scheduled for July 19 (2010; Monday) – with a revised site plan, a list of waivers on which municipal approval might be needed, and possibly better news from PennDOT.
Related:
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Planning Commission meeting of June 21, 2010):
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