Strip mall planned in Pa.

March 24, 1999|By RICHARD F. BELISLE, Waynesboro

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Construction of a new $5 million strip mall anchored by a chain grocery store is being planned for part of the former Welty farm across from Midvale Road on Pa. 16, the co-owner of the Atlanta company building the project said Tuesday.

Douglas Bercu, who with Michael Timmons owns Timber Development Corp., said negotiations are nearly complete with Food Lion officials to build a store in their new shopping center. Final lease agreements are ready to be signed by Food Lion officials, Bercu said.

The mall will cover 21,000 square feet of retail space. There will be about a dozen small shops in addition to the grocery store and a Dollar General store. Two parcels will be available for lease, Bercu said.

Altogether, Timber Development is getting 11 acres from the estate of Richard and Catherine Welty, said Jerry Zeigler, code enforcement officer for Washington Township.

Sam Welty, the couple's son, executor of their estate and a local real estate agent, wants to rezone 16 acres of the total 46-acre farm from medium density residential to commercial to accommodate the Timber Development project. There will be 5 acres for additional comercial development.

About 30 acres will be left in residential zoning, which Welty said he also plans to sell for his family's estate.

Welty, 53, said he won't develop any of the land himself.

The farm is across Pa. 16 from Midvale Road in the Rouzerville area of Washington Township.

There will also be a mall entrance on Old Forge Road, Zeigler said. So far no one has stepped forward to oppose the mall. He said some residential properties on Old Forge Road near the new mall will increase in value because they could be rezoned commercial. "The rest of the properties will see no effect," he said.

The Washington Township Planning Commission will hear public comments on the mall project on April 12. If the commission approves the request it goes to the township supervisors in May for their approval, Zeigler said.

Timmons said earlier the Washington Township project will be similar to a mall the company is building on U.S. 11 North in Greencastle. That too will be anchored by a Food Lion grocery story. The company has built shopping centers in Chambersburg, Pa., and Cresaptown, Md., Bercu said.

An intersection at Midvale Road and Pa. 16 is also proposed to accommodate traffic for the new mall.

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