The Elizabethtown Planning Commission approved two development plans and denied a sidewalk construction standards waiver during their meeting tuesday.
The development plan and commercial design review was approved for APEX Center, which will be located at 245 Ring Road. Two 15,300 square foot buildings will be constructed for a proposed retail strip center. Contractors said the site should host about 12 tenants.
A development plan and commercial design review was also approved for Vibrant Vitalite, which will construct a 5,000 square foot medical office at 1106 Julianna Court.
The commission heard a sidewalk construction standards waiver request from the Kort Office Center, located at 2618 Ring Road. A contractor installed a four-foot sidewalk on the property while construction standards require a five-foot sidewalk. Mike Billings with Engineering Design Group said a mistake was made by a contractor that installed the sidewalk to match the other sidewalks on the cul-de-sac, and Billings said the cul-de-sac has functioned without issue for nearly 20 years with four-foot sidewalks. Commission Chair Steve Rice said he was concerned with setting the wrong precedent by granting the waiver.
“Whenever you make exceptions to what the plan says and/or our guideline, you are setting a precedent, and you have to look forward to any other situations and be able to defend those,” said Rice.
The commission voted to deny the waiver 3 to 1.
Elizabethtown Director of Planning and Development Joe Reverman said construction numbers are already up in the new fiscal year.
“Just since July 1, the new fiscal year, we’ve got 277 new housing units,” said Reverman. “For the entire year, we’ve got 824 new housing units and $308 million in construction costs for this year.”
The commission asked Reverman and his staff to research and make recommendations on height requirements for new construction.
The Elizabethtown Planning Commission will next meet September 12.
All this new apartment construction is squeezing out the locals. My rent has jumped so high in Elizabethtown. I moved here because it’s safe and affordable. Now, it’s still safe but I can’t afford to live here or move but I’m having to look into moving out of state.