Developer gets go-ahead to complete Planet Fitness
The Planet Fitness construction site in Park Place at the Meadow Lands
A retaining wall surrounds a creek that was the crux of the construction issue near Planet Fitness in the Park Place at the Meadow Lands project.
Dave Biafora was brimming with good humor.
“We’re very excited and can’t wait to pay our taxes, create jobs and spend money in the community again,” said the principal of Metro Property Management, developer of Park Place at the Meadow Lands in North and South Strabane townships.
The source of his glee was the receipt of a permit Thursday allowing his company to resume construction of the Planet Fitness Center, located at the highest point of the project, near the intersection of Route 19 and Racetrack Road. The permit was issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, an agency with which Biafora had been at loggerheads.
DEP brought site construction to a halt in February. The reason, according to DEP spokesman Neil Shader, was the Morgantown, W.Va., firm “worked without permits or where work was not permitted.” Inspectors from the DEP, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington County Conservation District and Cheat Road Engineering Inc. discovered the alleged violations Feb. 10.
Construction of the fitness center did continue into the summer, and the exterior is largely finished. Biafora said that was allowed, as did Shader, a former Peters Township resident who added the work was outside the restricted area.
Machinery, building materials and a lot of dug-up rocks and earth sat idle for months, workers largely absent. Completion of the apartment buildings and townhouses, 206 units overall, going up nearby was halted, as well. The gym and residences are part of Phase II, all located in North Strabane.
Construction can begin again Monday thanks to the permit, which addressed waterway and wetland encroachments. That obviously thrills Biafora, whose firm is operating under the name Washington Investments LLC for this project.
“We’ll start footers Monday and finish the shopping center (in the Phase I, retail area of the development),” he said. “We have 40 to 50 construction workers waiting. We may work a couple of shifts, and hopefully (the workers) will have a nice Christmas.”
A balmy Friday to the contrary, cold – and frigid – weather is ahead, which isn’t conducive to erecting buildings. Biafora, nevertheless, is buoyed by the permit approval and insists he isn’t being overly optimistic when he forecasts a February/March opening for Planet Fitness, and a Dec. 1 occupancy of some apartments.
“We had a good piece of (the workout center) done. We’re finishing the inside,” he said. “The water is being put in and we’ll be pouring the sidewalks for the one- and two-bedroom apartments.”
Planet Fitness is based in Newington, N.H., with more than 1,000 locations across the country. One is planned for Mt. Lebanon, where a Bottom Dollar closed several years ago.
Park Place, in the meantime, continues to evolve. Johnathan Michael’s Boutique – featuring jewelry, watches and women’s clothing – opened recently; an Asian takeout facility is expected soon; and a vitamin store is en route.
Park Place is on a 44-acre tract that is mostly in North Strabane. Only a small strip – at the entrance – is in South Strabane, where the first businesses opened Oct. 30, 2013.
Although Metro Property Management and DEP have had a somewhat contentious relationship this year, Biafora is pleased to be past that.
“It’s done,” he said. “What happened happened.”