Upper Burrell officials say there’s no stopping new Dollar General
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Residents along Dewey Drive in Upper Burrell don’t want a proposed Dollar General store at Route 780 and Dewey, although supervisors told upset residents Wednesday night there’s little they can do.
The land proposed for the store is in a C-1 district known as a commercial neighborhood service zone, which is next to several properties zoned residential.
Residents who live along Dewey Drive have been in an uproar over changing the rural character of the street.
During Wednesday night’s meeting, a resident who did not identify themselves shouted, “Residents don’t want your business, and the township doesn’t want you.”
Calls to Dollar General were not immediately returned Thursday.
Although there were no representatives from the developer or Dollar General at Wednesday’s meeting, the public looked to supervisors for answers.
Dewey Drive resident Diane Chabal asked supervisors to protect residents driving on Dewey from the extra store traffic. An initial site plan shows the proposed store’s entrance and exit are on Route 780 and not Dewey Drive, the supervisors said.
Still, the store is not welcome, Chabal said.
“We don’t need another discount dollar store in the area,” she added.
Property owner Jim Antoniono of Greensburg defended the development on his land, which is under agreement pending some development hurdles.
“It’s a commercial piece of property that has been (zoned) commercial for years,” Antoniono said. Residents have used his property for free over the years to park buses and for other uses, he added.
Antoniono, an attorney with offices in Greensburg and Leechburg, has deep roots in Upper Burrell. His father, a founding member of the township’s volunteer fire department, gave the company property for its fire station, Antoniono said.
He said Dollar General approached him to develop the store.
Although the developer for Dollar General has inquired about the site to some township officials, no formal site development plan has been submitted to the township, township officials said Wednesday night.
However, supervisors said they received correspondence that the Family General developer has been inquiring about stormwater management regulations and submitted a traffic impact study to PennDOT.
There are still a number of pending township approvals, including a land development plan, a zoning permit, approval for an on-lot sewage system, a grading permit, stormwater management requirements and more, according to Steve Yakopec, township solicitor.
“If they meet the requirements of zoning, there is nothing we can do,” he said.
Ross Walker, chairman of the supervisors, advised residents, if they feel strongly, to start a campaign and a petition to try to stop the development.
But he conceded there is not much the township can do to stop it.
Some residents at Wednesday’s meeting asked if the developer could install trees around the back of the store to shroud the building from the view of nearby residents.