Planning commission recommends rejection of Dollar General plan over unresolved stormwater, permitting concerns

On Feb. 4, 2025 the Longswamp Township Planning Commission moved to recommend that the Board of Supervisors reject the Dollar General – Mertztown Land Development Plan unless the applicant provides a formal time extension to the Board by Feb. 28, 2025. The motion, made by Commissioner Chris Moore and seconded by Commissioner Kerry Meitzler, passed unanimously.

Jill Smith, P.E., of Hanover Engineering Associates (the commission's reviewing engineer), told the commission the application has outstanding stormwater and permitting issues that prevent the township from making an informed decision. "The Engineer’s concerns regarding the runoff from State Street onto the property are that there is no drainage swale across the frontage on the north side of the road nor is there curbing on the proposed parking lot area and that the Applicant’s calculations do not take into account the totality of the runoff from the south side of the road," the minutes record. Smith said an upstream analysis is needed to quantify the volume of water entering the site and to size on-site drainage accordingly.

Smith also reported that the proposed alternate septic system may not meet the required 50-foot isolation distance from primary and alternate drain fields; the township SEO indicated retesting could be necessary to verify separation. The engineer said documentation and calculations showing the bypassed flow areas and inlet capacities are not clearly delineated on the plan, and that the township has not received PennDOT-issued reviews tied to the applicant's Highway Occupancy Permit (HOP) for the site.

Larson Design Group, representing the applicant, requested several waivers including permitting the outlet of the basin to use corrugated metal pipe rather than reinforced concrete (Article IV, Section 5.B.8), and partial relief from the Township's stormwater release-rate criteria for Watershed District 19 (Article III, Section 6.B). The submission included run rates showing the 2-year, 10-year, 25-year and 100-year storms would not fully meet ordinance release-rate percentages for every event; the minutes record those percentiles and note bypass areas outside the basin that were not captured by the drainage design.

Commission members said those open stormwater questions and the absence of PennDOT documentation made consideration of the waivers and preliminary plan premature. With those concerns unresolved, the commission approved a motion recommending rejection unless the applicant obtains a time extension to allow the township to complete its review.

The commission's recommendation will be advisory to the Board of Supervisors, which has final authority on land development approvals and on waiver grants. The commission did not record a vote tally by member names beyond the unanimous "all in favor" notation recorded in the minutes.

Next procedural steps: if the applicant secures a time extension and submits the missing analyses and agency reviews, the commission said the township engineering review and the Board of Supervisors could reconsider the plan.