The Havre de Grace Planning Commission on Oct. 16 approved the second and final one-year extension for the site plan for a proposed Popeyes restaurant at 1101 Pulaski Highway (case 2023-0010).

Aliza Hertzmark, a professional engineer with Boller Engineering, told the commission the delay stems from requirements from the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA). SHA has required full traffic-bearing acceleration and deceleration lanes with bicycle compatibility for the project's access to the state highway. That requirement increases both design and construction costs: Hertzmark said the SHA process will require coring the existing road, producing full design plans for roughly 400 linear feet of improvements and related cross sections, and that design and construction costs were higher than the developer had originally budgeted.

Hertzmark said the owner/developer (Popeyes) intends to move forward and requested the final one-year extension "to try to get these costs in line, get the right funding allocated, and we want to push forward and try this." The department clarified that the code defines the action that satisfies the extension deadline as "substantial construction" (not merely obtaining a permit); the applicant must have foundation work completed within the approved timeframe to be considered in substantial construction.

The commission closed the record and approved the extension by roll call; every commissioner present voted yea. Commissioners confirmed there have been no code changes that would affect the application and noted the site plan itself has not changed since the original approval on Nov. 7, 2022. The planning department noted stormwater management and final state approvals remain outstanding.

The approval constitutes the final extension allowed under city code §155-25. If construction is not substantially underway by the end of the extension period, the applicant will need to submit a new site-plan application.