SANATOGA PA – With little discussion, an agreement to cooperate with neighboring Limerick (PA) Township in “planning and development” of a master plan for the Sanatoga interchange at U.S. Route 422 was unanimously approved Thursday (May 21, 2009) by the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners.
A similar measure has already been approved by the Limerick Board of Supervisors, Rodney Hawthorne, Lower Pottsgrove township manager, told commissioners during their second monthly meeting in the township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd.
Lower Pottsgrove’s resolution, No. 814, does not commit it to any decisions or financial expenditures, township Solicitor R. Kutz Holloway noted. “It’s just the first step in the process,” he said, an acknowledgment that the townships “are going to work together.”
The proposed Sanatoga Springs development, shown in this artist's rendering, is one of many plans suggested for the interchange.
The interchange, around which a huge amount of commercial and residential growth is expected in coming years, is divided by the townships’ common boundary line. The municipalities anticipate it will cost tens of millions of dollars to re-work the highway’s exit ramps, widen existing roads, create a feeder or frontage road system, and install traffic control systems there.
Potentially as important as their common need for funds, however, is the indication from officials in both townships of a common interest in land use, zoning issues, development standards, and possibly even marketing of the interchange as a visitor destination. Those and other topics likely will be subjects of interest in the master plan collaboration.
In the recent past Lower Pottsgrove has been seen as somewhat further along than Limerick in planning components for the interchange. However, Limerick earlier this year completed its township comprehensive plan and Lower Pottsgrove continues to refine zoning language for its interchange district, so it’s hoped coordination can be a simple task.
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ May 21 meeting):
Related (to Sanatoga interchange development):
- Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
- Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
- Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
- Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
- Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
- The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
- County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
- Improving The Odds At The Interchange
- More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
- Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
- Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
- A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”
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May 26, 2009 at 11:57 am
What happened to the announcement earlies this year in Limerick where we heard a COSTCO was coming to Sanatoga Springs?
And where is all of this development by Oneil that we have heard about. Jobs are scarce and a few local construction jobs would help.
June 5, 2009 at 10:04 am
[...] No matter what future projects may occupy the vacant land surrounding the interchange, Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick townships have pledged to be mutually ready for them. Both passed resolutions last month announcing their agreement to cooperate on planning and other issues that affect the interchange. [...]