The Gettysburg Planning Commission voted unanimously to postpone action on the preliminary/final plan for the Gettysburg station project until the meeting on November 17. The developers requested this action to continue working on the plans with Borough Staff and state agencies.
Planning Director John Whitmore said the parties hope to finish the review of the plans and bring them to an approve/deny vote before a year has passed since their introduction. If the process stretches longer, the prices and availability of materials will have changed too much, he said.
The planning application was introduced in April 2025 and the timeline was extended once in June. It is common for planning bodies to vote on extensions to give developers more time to work with a municipality to bring plans into compliance, especially for complex and large scale projects.
Whitmore said changes made to the plan so far include increasing the amount of landscaping on the site and changing some of the “drive aisles” for vehicles.
The developers are still working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to create a traffic study for the project. Whitmore said he hoped they would be able to present a study in October, but “working with PennDot is a conversation that takes a long time.”
Whitmore expected that there would be questions for the developers from the public about whether the surrounding streets can handle any increased traffic that would be created if the project is completed. The proposed plan includes both residences and commercial businesses. Traffic studies include estimation of the “trips per day” that will be generated by a development.
351 East Water Street
A developer, Simrat, LLC submitted plans for a residential development of 10 townhomes at 351 East Water Street.
A copy of the plans is included with the meeting minutes. Borough Staff will begin reviewing the application.
The proposed project consists of 10 single family residences, organized into two main structures made up of five townhome units.
The lot is currently a vacant grass field about 0.83 acres in size, located near Mason Dixon Distillery, Spectra-Kote Corporation, and Statler’s Auto & Furniture Upholstery.
Whitmore said that the challenge of the site was providing parking, and Borough staff was recommending the developer explore off-site parking options to meet the off-street parking requirement.
Commission member Martin Jolin noted that there didn’t appear to be much room between the unit garages and the street, as currently represented in the drawings, though he had not had a chance to look at measurements. Any vehicles parked in front of the garages might infringe on the bike path.
Whitmore said specific questions about the design of the buildings and specific questions about accessibility like curb cut design could be explored in more detail during the review process.
Catalina Righter, freelance reporter, lives in New Oxford. She previously wrote for the Carroll County Times and the Kent County News, covering crime, education, local government and arts. She works as a legal assistant.