Nov 3, 2004 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – The city’s planning commission Tuesday unanimously approved two subdivision plans for a West Side development site, clearing the way for developers to seek construction permits. The commission had given tentative approval to the two plans of lots in September, but changes made in October to the documents required the board to revisit the matter.

The lot plans detail the planned sale of property now owned by the city, Traft Construction Co. and Crane Rental proprietors John R. Ketchem and Richard V. Martin, and Brown-Kellogg Inc. to Widewaters Development Group. Widewaters secured lease agreements with the three entities in 2001.

The New-York-based firm plans to construct a strip mall and grocery store at the Route 119/201 site.

Marco Marzocchi, Widewaters real estate development general counsel, described the document changes as “minor” and completed as requested by city officials and Widmer Engineering Inc., the city’s engineering firm. In addition to changing the plan name to reflect the city’s ownership of a portion of the property, the changes included the revision of the zoning designation from commercial to industrial and the amendment of some calculations relating to the boundaries of the property.

The city property plan, however, was found to contain an acreage discrepancy, according to commission solicitor Gretchen Mundorff.

“I’ve done the math and it does not add up,” said Mundorff, referring to the differing acreages to be retained by the city and sold to Widewaters in the original and revised lot plans. “I think we should have a correct plan.”

Marzocchi and John Cenker, Widewaters engineer, speculated a mathematical error occurred while the revised plans were being prepared. Marzocchi said Widewaters will correct the figures and submit to the city plans containing the accurate acreages.

Mundorff recommended that the commission approve the plans, but stipulated Widewaters be required to submit corrected documents.

“I think it is in the city’s best interest to know how much acreage it owns,” she said. “I’ve never worked for an organization that did not want to know.”

With the approval of the plans, Councilman Bruce Jaynes, who along with other council members Chris Wagner and Brad Geyer and Mayor Judy Reed attended the meeting, said the sale of the property can be finalized.

“I anticipate we’ll be signing the (sale) papers before the end of November,” he said after the meeting. The city is expected to receive $350,000 for its portion of the property.

City health officer Rita Bornstein said Widewaters has submitted a building permit application for the construction of the mall’s anchor tenant, Giant Food Stores, but because the firm has yet to finalize the sale, the commission cannot take action on the application.

“(Widewaters) must own the property before the board can issue the permit,” she said.

The submitted paperwork indicates the 45,000-square-foot site will cost $2.9 million to construct.

The city, along with the state Department of Labor and Industry, will have jurisdiction in determining if all building regulations are met during construction. However, the county will oversee any future building on the property because of the newly implemented Uniform Construction Code, said Bornstein.

Under the code, all construction must adhere to professional building standards. The city was one of several municipalities to allow the county to handle enforcement of the code.

In addition to the grocery store, the strip mall will contain a Dollar Tree, Check-N-Go, and Holiday Hair, according to Scott Luedtke, Widewaters manager of retail development.