Middletown board approves Panda Express land development at Lincoln Highway site
July 18, 2022 | Middletown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
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The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors voted 5–0 to grant preliminary and final land development approval for the CFT Plaza redevelopment at 2029 Lincoln Highway, allowing construction of a Panda Express on one pad and reserving the adjacent pad as green space until a future tenant is identified.
An attorney for the applicant explained the parcel will remain a single lot and noted variances the zoning hearing board granted that allow two drive-through restaurants on the site. The applicant said stormwater and other infrastructure have been engineered to accommodate the full build-out of both pads. "The stormwater management system, all those improvements have been designed for the full build out of this site," the applicant said during the presentation.
The planning commission recommended approval on a phased basis after concerns that county review had treated the plan as a single-restaurant submission. The applicant told the board it had left a blank space on the plan to avoid delaying the project while a second tenant is identified and to avoid re-submitting to the planning commission a second time.
Board members asked about circulation, sidewalks and landscaping. The applicant said the plan now includes a sidewalk along Old Lincoln Highway and meets township landscaping requirements. Questions about whether the second restaurant would include a drive-through were answered: the applicant said it would "definitely be a drive through" based on the site design.
Conditions attached to the board's approval require the applicant to address all outstanding review comments and to return for a separate land-development review for the second restaurant pad site. The motion passed unanimously.
Next steps: the applicant may proceed with final permitting and, after closing, begin construction of the Panda Express under the approved plan; any development of the second pad requires a subsequent submission to the planning commission and board.
An attorney for the applicant explained the parcel will remain a single lot and noted variances the zoning hearing board granted that allow two drive-through restaurants on the site. The applicant said stormwater and other infrastructure have been engineered to accommodate the full build-out of both pads. "The stormwater management system, all those improvements have been designed for the full build out of this site," the applicant said during the presentation.
The planning commission recommended approval on a phased basis after concerns that county review had treated the plan as a single-restaurant submission. The applicant told the board it had left a blank space on the plan to avoid delaying the project while a second tenant is identified and to avoid re-submitting to the planning commission a second time.
Board members asked about circulation, sidewalks and landscaping. The applicant said the plan now includes a sidewalk along Old Lincoln Highway and meets township landscaping requirements. Questions about whether the second restaurant would include a drive-through were answered: the applicant said it would "definitely be a drive through" based on the site design.
Conditions attached to the board's approval require the applicant to address all outstanding review comments and to return for a separate land-development review for the second restaurant pad site. The motion passed unanimously.
Next steps: the applicant may proceed with final permitting and, after closing, begin construction of the Panda Express under the approved plan; any development of the second pad requires a subsequent submission to the planning commission and board.
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