Cooperation's needed for Sanatoga Springs, county planners say.

Cooperation's needed for Sanatoga Springs, county planners say.

LIMERICK PA – Limerick and Lower Pottsgrove (PA) townships can accomplish more together than they can separately to solve traffic problems sure to arise with construction of the proposed “Sanatoga Springs” shopping complex, Montgomery County planners say.

“We continue to support a more comprehensive approach to the land use and transportation issues at the Sanatoga interchange” of U.S. Route 422, the county Planning Commission suggested in a Dec. 3 (2008) letter to Limerick Township Manager Daniel Kerr. His township “should more closely cooperate with Lower Pottsgrove … to jointly address common land use, traffic, and planning issues” there, wrote Senior Design Planner Barry W. Jeffries.

An artist's rendering of a portion of Sanatoga Springs.

An artist's rendering of a portion of Sanatoga Springs, from www.sanatogaretail.com.

Seventy acres within Limerick on the interchange’s southeast side are expected to be developed for retail, office and residential mixed use by O’Neill Properties Group of King of Prussia PA beginning sometime later this year. O’Neill announced its plans for Sanatoga Springs, and its acquisition of the available property, last August.

The project would be built near the Philadelphia Premium Outlets, which opened on a nearby 78-acre tract in November 2007. Outlet center traffic has, at times, slowed passage through the interchange to a crawl. Both Limerick and Lower Pottsgrove are hoping for millions of dollars in federal financial assistance to address what they foresee as even greater highway needs when Sanatoga Springs opens.

Jeffries’ letter, a copy of which was sent to Lower Pottsgrove Township Manager Rodney Hawthorne, acknowledged the townships’ desire “to create funding partnership opportunities.” But to maximize the value of whatever money comes this way – particularly as a result of public works initiatives being discussed by President-Elect Barack Obama – the Planning Commission urges Limerick “to jointly address common roadway and land use issues at the interchange with Lower Pottsgrove,” the letter states.

Limerick and Lower Pottsgrove have attempted working together on similar projects before, with limited success. Cooperation, Jeffries wrote, will ensure “that the future development at the interchange is an asset for both townships.”

Artist’s rendering from O’Neill Properties Group

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