South Strabane approves co-working office space, with conditions
After a contentious public hearing, South Strabane supervisors have approved, with conditions, a co-working office space at 65 Fischer Road.
The board rendered the unanimous decision at a special meeting Monday.
Representatives of Champion Center Enterprises LLC did not make a good impression on supervisors or the public at a hearing in March. In November, Champion Christian Center, which is affiliated with Champion Center Enterprises, had applied to build a tax-exempt church at the property, which is zoned for commercial development. The group withdrew its application shortly after.
The group was represented at the March hearing by Washington attorney Thomas Lonich and Johnny Miller. Miller refused to acknowledge that his brother is Nathan Miller, who owns both Champion Center and Champion Christian Center.
Supervisors became frustrated, as they believed Lonich and Johnny Miller were not being forthcoming about how the two organizations are connected.
However, Township Manager Brandon Stanick said the group’s conditional use application ultimately met all township regulations.
“By rules and regulations, it’s hard to say no to,” Stanick said. “They met the conditions.”
The public hearing had to be held for a second time Monday before supervisors could issue a decision. According to Stanick, the reason the second hearing was necessary was because the township failed to send out notices to residents within 300 feet of the property for the first hearing.
While Champion Center will be able to move on to the next steps, the supervisors’ approval came with several conditions that aim to address concerns about the project.
“It needs to follow the zoning they applied for,” Stanick said.
The property is zoned for commercial development. County property records indicate the 30-acre plot of land is still owned by Bass Pro Shops, which purchased the property in 2007 for $1.5 million.
The stipulation addresses concerns that Champion Center could become a nonprofit in the future, as the withdrawn application from Champion Christian Center sought to build a church.
A major issue supervisors had with Champion Center’s proposal was a parking lot with 281 spaces. Stanick said no more than 200 spaces will be permitted at the site.
There are also numerous conditions that address traffic and safety on Fischer Road.
Stanick said all traffic will have to turn left when exiting the building’s driveway. And Champion Center will be required to make improvements to Fischer Road and pay for appropriate traffic signs.
According to Stanick, Champion Center still has more regulatory steps to meet before ground can be broken.
“The next step is for them to go through final land development approval,” Stanick said. “They’ll be back in front of the planning commission, and back in front of the board.”