Residents urge council to reject 24/7 Sheetz plan at former Rite Aid site

Linda Cunningham, who identified herself as a longtime resident at 364 Water Creek, told the Indiana Borough Council she and neighbors oppose a Sheetz convenience store proposed for the former Rite Aid property, saying the business’ 24-hour operation and alcohol sales would worsen noise and security and that residents had been promised protections decades earlier.

“We have lived in our home for 40 years. ... Sheetz will be open 24 7,” Cunningham said, asking councilors to read a letter she provided and not repeat what she described as the council’s 1998 deference to corporate representatives.

Her remarks came during the public-comment period, where several residents asked the council not to favor a Sheetz-style redevelopment; Cunningham said she and neighbors would accept smaller retail such as a Dollar General or a small grocery store but oppose a 24/7 fueling and convenience operation with alcohol sales.

At the same meeting, Bob Colgan, who gave his hometown as Indiana, PA, urged local law enforcement to support federal immigration enforcement if ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) were to operate locally. “Will you support ICE when they come here? Will you instruct your officers to support them?” Colgan asked, adding he has encouraged neighbors to report people in the country illegally.

Other public commenters, including a retired Indiana police detective, said they expected clearer answers from the chief and from council about how residents’ questions would be handled.

Council staff and committee reports indicate the Sheetz redevelopment presentation was given at a prior work session and that the council authorized moving the project to a workshop for further review; community-development remarks at the meeting noted the authorization was conditional on floodplain research and a traffic study. The council did not take a final vote on the project at this meeting.

Next steps: the Sheetz redevelopment was moved to the workshop process and council members said future deliberations would consider the floodplain and traffic-study findings before any final action.