A compromised retaining wall appears to be holding up a development that would bring multiple businesses to a stretch of Northern Boulevard.<\/p>\n
South Abington Twp. officials appear to have not issued permits for the 37,399-square-foot Shoppes at South Abington. Multiple attempts to clarify the situation with the wall and what is holding up the project with officials and the developer have not been successful.<\/p>\n
Resident John Hambrose asked at the October supervisors meeting about the retaining wall, and Solicitor William Jones responded that a building permit wasn\u2019t issued for the retaining wall. Hambrose \u2014 who has since been elected as a supervisor \u2014 said Jones did not provide an explanation during the meeting about why a permit wasn\u2019t issued.<\/p>\n
During the same meeting, it was disclosed that the developer failed to present the township with an engineering certification for the wall, and that the township did not issue occupancy permits for the Sheetz and Wendy\u2019s that are being built at the site.\n<\/p>\n
Multiple attempts to reach Jones and township Manager JoAnn Pane for information about what permits have been issued for the project and how the retaining wall was constructed have been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Supervisor Chairman Giles Stanton said progress is being made on the site, while Supervisor Donald Snyder said there has \u201cbeen a lot of activity\u201d there but didn\u2019t elaborate on it. Efforts to reach Supervisor Mark Dougherty were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Ankim Shah, CEO of Falcon Partners LLC, the plaza\u2019s developer, appeared at several township supervisors meetings in the spring and summer to discuss the project. Officials found in June the developer did not have a traffic light maintenance agreement, which is required to accompany its application for traffic signal approval, according to meeting minutes from the June supervisors meeting. Supervisors agreed at that meeting to authorize the township manager to sign the documents when they were completed and invoices paid.<\/p>\n
The issues with the retaining wall aren\u2019t the only ones facing the development as lawyers for two of the businesses slated to open at the site are suing the developer.<\/p>\n
Sheetz Inc. of Altoona and Wendy\u2019s Properties LLC both filed a legal document called a praecipe for a writ of summons in Lackawanna County Court against 1101 Northern Boulevard LLC and Shah. The document filed by Wendy\u2019s also names Crown CFM Holdings LLC as a defendant.<\/p>\n