Commissioners OK Italian Restaurant’s Plan, Without Alley

Posted on 22 October 2010. Tags: , ,

A proposal to use this alley, seen looking west toward Sunnyside Avenue, as an exit for the Bella Italia restaurant has been scrapped by Lower Pottsgrove

SANATOGA PA – Saying it wanted to continue a practice of being business-friendly, and acknowledging that municipal planning had consumed almost a year of discussion, the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners gave its blessing Thursday (Oct. 21, 2010) to the preliminary development plan for the proposed Bella Italia Restaurant on East High Street.

Commissioners went even further, though, in thanking developer Cilluffo Property Holdings LLC for its attempt to help the township work to solve problems involving the vacant land at 2209 E. High St., Pottstown PA, and its adjacent neighbors. “They’ve been more than willing to try and do the right thing,” Commissioner Michael McGroarty said of Cilluffo.

The decision came during the board’s second meeting of the month, at the Buchert Road municipal building.

In approving the plan, commissioners also decided to abandon the township’s hopes of using an alley that connects the property to nearby Sunnyside Avenue as a potential exit for restaurant traffic.

Instead, the board agreed, Cilluffo and the township will abide by a recent Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ruling that lets restaurant traffic enter and exit from East High Street through a driveway across from the entrance to the Sanatoga Village Center shopping plaza. Lower Pottsgrove sought to avoid that single access because of the potential for traffic congestion.

Months of attempts to get all five neighboring property owners to agree on how the alley would be used and maintained, an initiative advocated by the township, failed. “We wanted to be the good guys and help out,” company representative Mary Cilluffo said after the board’s approval. “Now we can’t wait any longer. It’s a matter of time and money.”

Had it not been for negotiations involving the alley, she added, “this project could have started months ago.”

As it stands, the Blue Bell PA-based company still cannot officially break ground for its dine-in Italian foods restaurant until other adjustments are made to the preliminary plan. All involved agreed they were minor, and Cilluffo is expected to return soon – possibly before year-end – to seek commissioners’ approval on its final development plan.

Related:

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Oct. 21):

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