Upper Burrell delays approving Dollar General plan over permitting, drainage issues

Upper Burrell is temporarily shelving Dollar General’s plans to build a store along Route 780 at Dewey Drive until the developer secures permits and other approvals.

The township’s planning commission also raised concerns over drainage issues near the store.

Although the proposed store is unpopular with many residents who would live near it, construction has been expected to proceed because there’s nothing legally to stop it, township officials have said. The site is located in a residential neighborhood but is zoned commercial.

But the township engineer and planning commission are still ironing out the details of the proposed development.

The township planning commission is concerned about drainage near the store, especially at Lower Drennen Road.

There have been drainage problems there in the past and township officials don’t want stormwater runoff from the Dollar General site to make the situation worse, said Dave Kerchner of Bankson Engineers, the township’s engineer.

“There’s a problem that needs to be fixed in the Lower Drennen Road area and we will try to get the county conservation district to take a look at it,” he said at a township supervisors meeting this month.

Other items needed for the Dollar General site include a permit for the store’s drainage to connect to a PennDOT outlet and approval for an on-lot septic system, Kerchner said.

Angela Petkovic, spokeswoman for Dollar General Corp., said the chain intends to make a final decision on whether it will move forward with plans to build a store on the site in late spring.

She said part of the chain’s development process includes securing all necessary permits to ensure “that we can move forward with a project should we decide to at the conclusion of that process.”

The developer made some concessions to address residents’ concerns about lighting and traffic. The developer and the township agreed on a store entrance along Route 780 instead of Dewey Drive. The developer will plant trees and erect a fence to block the view of the back of the store to Dewey Drive residents.

The store, if built, could employ six to 10 workers, the company has said.