By Sarit laschinsky

Special to the Press

Much of the May 6 Upper Macungie supervisors meeting was dedicated to discussing a number of waivers for a new proposed Sheetz.

Community Development Director Daren Martocci said the applicant had been before the township planning commission, which had made recommendations on 10 waivers for the Sheetz, proposed to be located at 951 Trexlertown Road.

“This is really step one in a three-step process,” Martocci said, noting that the project also requires a future conditional use approval in order to move forward with the land development process.

He also said per the township’s code, the applicant must satisfy all local, state and federal requirements before moving to the conditional use stage.

Township engineer David Alban presented the waivers beginning with a request to allow the plan to be processed as a preliminary/final, since the Sheetz would not be a phased project.

This was accepted by supervisors.

The second waiver, dealing with the width of the project’s access drive, was withdrawn, and Alban said the developer will instead follow SALDO requirements.

The third waiver dealt with a requirement that the centerlines of access roads needed to be located 300 feet or further from an intersection.

Alban explained this dealt with the right-in-only proposed driveway along Trexlertown Road, which is currently located closer than 300 feet from the Cross Creek Drive/Ruppsville Road intersection.

Alban said the developer had modified the driveway to be right-in only in response to staff requests.

He explained the design was originally a right-in/right-out design, but said the right-out portion was removed because it was moving traffic directly into an intersection.

He added the developer had changed the design and added a proposed exit-only driveway onto Ruppsville Road for cars only.

During public comments on the waiver, regarding a question on why the distance waiver was requested, Eric Mountz from Traffic Planning and Design said the driveway was approximately 150 feet from the intersection.

He said there was nowhere along the property frontage that was 300 feet away from either the Cross Creek intersection, or another intersection with Cetronia Road.

Regarding safety concerns, Mountz said per PennDOT’s request, a median will be constructed down Trexlertown Road to prevent illegal left turns, and a separate, additional right-turn deceleration lane will be built on northbound Trexlertown Road.

Board members approved the driveway waiver, as well as the following waiver from requiring street trees along the Ruppsville, Trexlertown and Cetronia road frontages, with a condition the required number of trees be planted elsewhere on the property.

Alban said staff comments showed much of Cetronia and Trexlertown roads had overhead and underground utilities, as well as an existing pond, which prevented trees from being planted.

Next, the board heard a waiver request from requirements that all subdivision and land developments improve roadway frontages along arterial roads.

Alban said the waiver was to not improve frontages along Cetronia Road and the planning commission recommended waiver denial and the applicant either provide the widening or provide fees in lieu of the improvements.

He said Cetronia, Ruppsville and Trexlertown are all state-owned roadways.

The board voted to deny the waiver and have the developer provide fees.

The next waiver dealt with requirements that sidewalks be placed along all roadway site frontages.

Alban said the applicant requested an exemption to not place sidewalk along a portion of Cetronia Road and along the Ruppsville Road frontage.

He said the planning commission recommended deferrals for the Cetronia Road portion, and that the developer put in sidewalk along Ruppsville Road.

Attorney Blake Marles, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said it made sense to have a sidewalk in locations where it is likely and safe for people to walk, but said placing a sidewalk along Ruppsville served no purpose as there were only three residential properties on the stretch, and sidewalks would lead people to walk to an unsignalized intersection and cross the street unsafely.

The board voted to uphold the planning commission’s recommendation, deferring the sidewalk for Cetronia Road and requiring it along Ruppsville Road.

The next waiver requested that the applicant not install curbing along the Cetronia and Ruppsville Road frontages, which was deferred by the board due to both roads being owned by PennDOT.

The next waiver, which was approved, requested relief from the 300-foot distance requirement from an arterial roadway’s centerline of access as the planned Ruppsville Road driveway has only 165 feet of separation.

Alban said this driveway was required due to the elimination of the right-out exit onto Trexlertown Road.

He added the applicant noted if the 300-foot requirement was met there would be headlight pollution from exiting vehicles shining into nearby homes.

The following request asked that the exit-only driveway have a 10-foot radius instead of the 20-foot requirement to help prohibit and deter trucks and other inbound traffic, as well as to allow a five-foot radius along Trexlertown Road to establish the right-in driveway.

This was also approved by supervisors.

The last waiver for the evening sought relief from providing improvements and widening along Ruppsville Road as required by the township.

The board made a motion to deny the waiver, as recommended by the planning commission, and asked the developer to provide fees in lieu of the improvements.

During the waiver process, numerous residents, several of whom lived in the nearby Cross Creek Development, raised concerns about the proposed Sheetz, its impact on the local neighborhood and inquiries about the waiver process itself.

Topics discussed included the number of gas pumps and products being sold at Sheetz, the project’s classification as either a gas station, convenience store or auto service station, potential issues with truck parking, increased traffic on the three roads around the Sheetz and in the Cross Creek development, unsafe conditions and landscaping information, among other issues.

Chairman James Brunell explained the waiver process, noting the township and applicant must follow a specific procedure and abide by the township’s SALDO, which included the requesting of waivers.

“Frankly, there can’t be anything standing in the way of getting to the conditional use hearing,” Brunell said about getting through all the waivers.

He, Martocci and Solicitor Andrew Schantz noted many of the questions and discussions residents wanted to have - such as site usage and its potential impact - would be more appropriate for the conditional use hearing.

Schantz said at the next stage, the applicant will have the burden of proof to comply with certain standards including resident concerns about traffic, safety, neighborhood impact and other issues.

“Your concerns are certainly legitimate and valid and should be presented in public,” he said, adding all processes the township will go through will be held at public hearings, at which the public is encouraged to attend.

“But right now, we’re just focusing on the waivers and the motions.”

In response to residents voicing their objections to increased traffic to the Sheetz, Marles and Mountz noted that a traffic study had been prepared and independently reviewed by both the township’s engineers and PennDOT.

Mountz noted that convenience stores attract largely “pass-by traffic” already on the roadway and said additional traffic drawn to the area would be “minimal.”

Marles also noted that the study indicates that 76 percent of the traffic to the Sheetz “would otherwise be going by the property … will be people would be going on Trexlertown Road anyway and going somewhere else.

“So when there’s conversation about a lot more traffic coming here because of Sheetz, there isn’t going to be a lot more traffic,” Marles said.