Redner’s Fuel Station Earns Planners’ Recommendation
LOWER POTTSGROVE PA – A Redner’s Warehouse Market proposal to build a retail fueling station at the northwest corner of North Charlotte and Mervine streets in Lower Pottsgrove is moving rapidly through the township acceptance process. The company won preliminary and final land development recommendations, as well as usage waivers, Monday (Oct. 18, 2021) from the township Planning Commission.
Less than a month earlier, Redner’s also succeeded in obtaining requested zoning variances and a special exception from the township Zoning Hearing Board. At its current pace and barring unforeseen complications, the company may soon be in position to make its pitch to the Board of Commissioners for final approval.
Redner’s original application for Planning Commission review include a list of 11 requested waivers. One of those was removed by the company’s engineer before Monday’s meeting.
Among the remaining 10, Bohler Engineering Senior Project Manager Eric Britz contended a dedicated street right-of-way required by the township would make it even more difficult for the project to fit into the parcel’s small size, and said the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation had decided against seeking a similar right-of-way. Planners agreed with the reasoning.
A second waiver sought to eliminate an extension of the property’s sidewalk on North Charlotte Street. Britz observed it would be either blocked or interrupted by several obstacles, including a utility pole and a tree, that could not be moved. Planning Commission members agreed with it as well, and noted that the property’s sidewalk on Mervine would not only remain but be improved with the project.
They also returned to a discussion, raised by Board of Commissioners’ President Bruce Foltz during the September zoning hearing, about erection of a safety fence atop a retaining wall near the property’s west side. Redner’s does not own that portion of land and has no ability to add fencing there, Britz said. However, planners accepted his offer to extend protective guard rail on the west side that would further limit pedestrian access to the wall.
Township engineering representative Craig Bonenberger of McCarthy Engineering questioned the potentially “unsightly” exterior appearance of large-sized trash cans to be stored at the rear of the station’s new kiosk. Britz told planners he would find a way to ensure their appearance was acceptable, subject to Bonenberger’s approval.
With that, and the company’s pledge to comply with outstanding minor items raised in a comments letter from Bonenberger, the planners’ vote ended the meeting in less than an hour.
Photo by The Post
