The preliminary plan for Granite Lake, a subdivison of single family homes and townhouses behind the Giant Food Store in Gettysburg, was granted conditional approval by the Straban Township Board of Supervisors on Monday.
The layout of the planned neighborhood is centered around an existing body of water and will be located behind the Gettysburg Marketplace shopping center currently anchored by a Giant grocery store. The majority of the 256 units will be single-family houses. The main access route will be Natural Springs Road, which will be expanded.
There is one home already located by the lake, which will be merged into the subdivision, including connecting it to the subdivision’s water and sewer infrastructure.
Phase one of construction includes 60 units, according to the preliminary subdivision plan, created by PennTerra Engineering. The preliminary plan can be viewed in full at the Straban Township Office, 1745 Granite Station Road. The office number is 717-334-4833.
Tony Fruchtl of PennTerra Engineering, who represented the developers at the meeting, noted that logging on the site will have to wait until October. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection restricts tree removal during certain times of the year on sites that have been identified as the summer habitat for a protected species of bat.
Township Engineer Erik Vranich briefly mentioned that the project has been in process for years. He said the layout of the subdivision plan approved at Monday’s meeting is very similar to the plan presented more than 10 years ago when the developers came before the township’s zoning hearing board seeking a special exception for one aspect of the plan. The developer has spent “three years chewing through the process” with the Planning Commission, Vranich said.
Before the vote, the planning commission recommended approval of the preliminary plan with contingencies. The final plan will need to comply with the guidance contained in an engineer’s letter created for the township by Keller Engineers.
The listed items are mostly concerned with ensuring details such as lighting, sidewalks and signage comply with state and local regulation. Vranich characterized it as a checklist for the developers.
Between the approval of the preliminary plan and the issuance of a building permit, a developer generally must still obtain multiple approvals, such as approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to access the highway and approval from the sewer and water authority.
Reserve at Rock Creek Development
The Granite Lake project is in addition to another large housing development underway in the same area through a different developer. The Supervisors approved survey work for this project in March.
The Reserve at Rock Creek, located at 1115 York Road between the Marshall’s Plaza and the Giant, is to be developed by Metropolitan Commercial Development, LLC of Wyomissing, Pa.
The proposed plan includes 11 multi-story apartment buildings, totaling 226 units, a clubhouse and pool, a shopping center, and a 20,000 square foot grocery store, reportedly to be an ALDI.
The plan includes re-routing and expansion of Camp Letterman Drive, which currently runs mostly parallel to Rt. 30. Camp Letterman Drive will become an access point for the residential portion of the development.
The project is described on the Metropolitan Companies’ website as “Conveniently located on York Road in Gettysburg, our community will consist of a mix of luxury apartment homes and retail shops. Everything you need within minutes: grocery stores, shopping, dining, entertainment, and more.”
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.
Gettysburg needs a community pool/ rec center ,inground, at the rec park. The youths that live in gettysburg could get jobs and have a place to swim. An outlet, a healthy outlet. How about that?
As much as I appreciate forward thinking? and moving into the 21st century? I am questioning the wisdom of really *&%#*@*& up the already heavily congested, and trafficked area of York Road that lay between Giant and Marshall’s plaza. Access and egress will be a living nightmare to a road that already struggles with tourist traffic, local business, and all the folks who work in these businesses. Is there a plan to widen the road? is there a plan for a “go around” road? What is the plan? beside bringing to our town “more people” and car traffic that has… Read more »
All this does is ruin the countryside for everyone else. It lines the pockets of developers and whoever in the township that voted it was a good idea.
Gettysburg is supposed to be a nice, small quiet town, not a huge city.
Do either of these sites have walking trails, playgrounds, exercise areas for the general population?
I think this idiotic destruction of a wonderful Battlefield is disgusting!! You all on these township boards should be ashamed of yourselves!