But, like traffic on Harrisburg Avenue, the meeting was slow going.

In fact, disagreement over traffic issues nearly forced the commission to table the issue, which could have jammed up the shopping mall's proposed tight time schedule.

Park City Center is looking at adding more than 50,000 square feet of retail space under its new plan.

The Bon-Ton, now at 142,000 square feet, would be increased by 36,500 square feet by a one-story addition that would wrap around the store's southern and western faces.

Another 21,300 square feet of retail space would be added to the western side of the mall, stretching from the West Mall Entrance, up to but not including Cold Stone Creamery in the J.C. Penney wing.

This addition would house about 10 to 13 new upscale retail stores and a restaurant, all of which would face the parking lot, with no entrance from the mall.

The additions to the shopping mall would force the existing access road to be pushed 75 feet to the west. The new road, landscape architect Paul Artale said, would be a "lively and attractive streetscape."

The parking lot would be reconfigured, adding trees and green space, as well as a fountain and raised planters, but at a cost of 274 parking spaces.

"Park City has about 1,000 reserve spaces over what the ordinance requires, so we will be drawing on that number," Artale said.

Rachel Gallagher, general manager for General Growth Properties, which owns the 460,000-square-foot center, said the expansion is in part to accommodate existing stores. She said stores in the Bon-Ton wing are 160 feet deep, as opposed to the 100-foot depth in newer malls.

Retailers in the Bon-Ton Mall, she said, do not want or need the extra space, so the stores to be added would use up that area to avoid having "dead space."

Park City hopes to start construction in January and open the new space in November 2007.

Controversy over the project arose when Steve Geisenberger, chairman of the Manheim Township planning commission, chastised the city board for considering the plan without asking the township for input on the traffic impact on Harrisburg Pike.

He encouraged the city to engage in intermunicipal discussions with neighboring townships on projects that put more cars on Harrisburg Pike, whose intersections, Geisenberger said, are already "failing on all levels."

Geisenberger spurred a discussion that lasted more than an hour before the commission narrowly granted the waiver by a 3-2 vote.

Tom Smithgall of High Real Estate Group urged the city, townships, High Real Estate and others to join together to look at ways to solve the immense traffic problems that plague the heavily traveled roadway.

Smithgall said High, which is hoping to build The Crossings at Conestoga Creek, a $100 million open-air shopping center planned for a 90-acre field opposite Long’s Park, is willing to pay "the lion's share" of such improvements, but "we can't do it all ourselves."

The commission took Smithgall and Geisenberger’s comments into account and also voted unanimously to invite officials from High, as well as Manheim and East Hempfield townships, to give their input on how large an area Park City Center should include in its required traffic study.

The problem will be discussed at the board's next meeting, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Southern Market.

Also at Wednesday's meeting, the commission granted final plan approval to Urban Place, a retail and residential complex proposed for the former Kerr Glass site, 461 New Holland Pike.

This plan, which involves the renovation of existing buildings, will include 47 rental apartments, mostly two-bedroom, and a 40-unit motel.

There will be a second-floor event facility for parties, weddings and other functions, plus retail space in other buildings.

The commission also waived the preliminary plan for Lancaster General Hospital for a new medical building across from its Duke Street facility and construction to enlarge the parking garage along North Queen Street. blog comments powered by Disqus