Submitted by Andrew Bowman The Upper Allen Township Planning Commission met to discuss current land developments in the area. Two proposals dominated the meeting: the Funtastik Sports Store planned to go in at 2324 S Market Street, and the next phase of development at Autumn Chase. The former project garnered much debate as the committee members and the project representative discussed foot traffic access to the shop, which could be accomplished either by adding a sidewalk or connecting to the pedestrian path behind the lot. The parties seemed to personally prefer the former option, but the plan would require extending the sidewalk from Round Ridge Road, which could come at the cost of the property owner and/or resident on the corner of S Market and Round Ridge. The discussion ended without a clear resolution, with the project representative being asked to come to the next meeting with their idea for implementing a pedestrian connection.
On the topic of Autumn Chase, there isn’t much to report. As one might expect, they are adding a bunch of large single family houses to the neighborhood running perpendicular to Hertzler Road. While this might be underwhelming on its own, the developer did point out that this is just part of the larger Planner Residential Development, which includes a variety of housing units and community spaces, with a relatively higher concentration on preserving open space and greenery.
Aside from those matters, the agenda itself was quite sparse. Most of the big projects in Upper Allen Township are finished. There’s not a pressing need for new real estate either. However, outside the agenda, there were two notable occurrences at the meeting. The first was the attendance of a class of Messiah engineering students. Secondly, Commissioners Phillip Walsh and Eric Fairchild were rather keen on the South Central Young Democrats presence. Perhaps this could lead to something?