Sheetz seeks Hempfield approval to build new Route 30 location at former Rite Aid

If Hempfield supervisors approve the site plan Monday, an old Rite Aid building on Route 30 will be demolished and a Sheetz convenience store and gas station constructed on the property.

The proposed development would replace the vacant building at West Hills Drive across the highway from Greengate Centre.

Route 30 traffic would not have direct access to the proposed development. Instead, motorists would turn onto West Hills Drive from the highway, township engineer Dan Schmitt said. Sidewalks are part of the proposal.

“The vehicle traffic will be much heavier” going to a Sheetz gas station and convenience store than the Rite Aid when it was open, said Supervisor Tom Logan. The location closed in October 2023 as part of Rite Aid Corp.’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“That turning lane is going to become a big-time user when you’re facing the west, you’re getting in that left lane” on Route 30, Supervisor George Reese said.

The status of a billboard at the intersection of Route 30 and West Hills Drive that advertises nearby West Hills Apartments is being discussed by Sheetz and the apartment complex’s owner.

“We put them in contact with each other to see if they could find an amicable resolution to the sign,” Township Manager Aaron Siko said. “We kind of put it in their court, and they are communicating.”

In addition to the site plan, supervisors will consider Monday a request from Sheetz for a waiver of requirements in the township’s stormwater management ordinance. Schmitt said Sheetz plans to use existing pipes that are buried underneath the parking lot to direct water runoff to a stream south of Route 30.

Sheetz media representatives did not respond to a message seeking information about the Hempfield development or a proposal for a gas station and convenience store in Greensburg.

A new Sheetz location at Davis Plaza along East Pittsburgh Street in Greensburg is still in the works, officials said. City council in October 2023 approved the development plans, according to meeting minutes. In April, the Sheetz on Harvey Avenue in Greensburg reopened after a major renovation.

The Sheetz location in Youngwood closed in October. The same month, North Huntingdon commissioners approved a permit for the demolition of the Sheetz location along the westbound lanes of Route 30 and a site plan for a new building on the existing property just before the Pennsylvania Turnpike entrance.