Sheetz has taken initial steps to put a new location in North Cornwall Township at 2150 W. Cumberland St., a lot most recently occupied by First National Bank.
“We are planning a new store location at this site but it is too early in the process to provide additional details,” said Sheetz spokesperson Nick Ruffner in an email to LebTown.
Nothing official has been submitted yet to North Cornwall Township, such as a preliminary land development plan.
Township manager Tom Long said that the township has been in initial discussions with Sheetz and PennDOT.
“This particular site is going through the traffic scoping application process,” said PennDOT spokesperson Dave Thompson in an email to LebTown. Thompson said that the traffic scoping application was returned to Sheetz and their design team, and PennDOT is currently awaiting followup from Sheetz following a meeting in mid-June.
“These applications often require multiple submissions to address comments, revise the study and resubmit,” said Thompson. “Each submission would take about five or six weeks for department review and applicant revisions.”
Long said the township remains in the dark as far as the design for the gas station, although he did say that his understanding was it would be a relatively smaller version of a Sheetz. Long said that once there’s a formal submission the township will determine what requirements Sheetz will need to meet, such as zoning variances or other criteria.
During the PennDOT process for a Highway Occupancy Permit – a permit for entities which desire to access the state’s right of way, such as that of Route 422 – the transportation agency reviews what type of access is being requested and what roadway improvements would be required for the proposed use. As part of this process, PennDOT also determines whether traffic studies may need to be done based on the proposed use of the site. These studies inform what improvements may be required in the area of a project.
“Once that is done and the Department, municipality, and county are in agreement on the type of access to the site and what roadway improvements would need to be done, the developer is given the green light to move forward with the HOP submission,” Thompson wrote.
The 2.46-acre property itself is owned by a locally administered trust held by members of the McMindes family, which formerly operated the Sheridan slag operation on the site of today’s Lebanon Valley Mall.
Whatever the final plan for the Sheetz, it is not expected to impact the forthcoming realignment of South 22nd Street, as that will start closer to the entrance of Game Time Fun.
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