Supervisors in Carroll Township, Pennsylvania voted this week to reject plans for a 250 acre retail center, anchored by a Wal-Mart supercenter. The developer, Lobar Associates, is expected to come back with another plan. The original plan included a Wal-Mart supercenter, and a Lowe’s, as well as several restaurants and a gas station. The project came under fire for its potential impact on stormwater runoff, and negative economic impacts on the area. According to the Associated Press, the township’s engineer came back with 200 issues with the project as proposed.
As a sidebar to this story, it should be noted that a local hardware and home center that had been in the Carroll Township area since 1932, folded this year because of competition from Wal-Mart and Lowe’s. The Castles Lumber and Home Center, a family-owned landmark for seven decades, closed on July 29th. According to a news account of the closing, the store had lost “a signficant chunk” of its business to Wal-Mart and Lowe’s, and when they heard a Home Depot was coming, they closed the business down, tore down the lumber warehouse, auctioned off their inventory, and are now trying to survive by turning the main building into office space. No doubt this developer in Carroll township will be back, and a Wal-Mart is likely to still be part of the plan. But the damage to local businesses has already occurred.
