HARRISBURG-LANCASTER-LEBANON-YORK | South Central, PA | Regional Development Thread

[EastSideHBG]

Welcome to the forum, HHH! It's nice to see the list of HBG forumers growing.

As for CorridorTWO, I am all for it. But 5 to 10 years?!? LOL that is WAY too late! By then the traffic will surely be choking the metro to a slow crawl (it's already happening now). Add that in to the fact that Cumberland Co., one of the vital links in the chain, may not be on board for any of this and you have a half-assed system that will more than likely do okay, but that's it: "okay".

Don't get me wrong, I am ALL FOR this rail project as many of you know, but I think we citizens deserve MUCH better than this. When other cities can build entire LRT lines from scratch in a mere few years, there is absolutely no excuse why we can do the same (if not better) when a large majority of the rail lines are already in place. The posibilities with this system are endless both in our region and for the state as a whole, and I am sad to see our leaders wasting yet another golden opportunity...

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Unfortunately, you now have to pay for the old articles in the Patriot so I don't have access to any of that info. I did a quick Google search and came up with nothing too. A few options are:

• Talk to the Wormleysburg officals and see if they can provide any info.
• Gannet-Fleming WAS doing the Bridgeport project the last time I worked with them (late '04) so they may know something.
• I don't think this new forum has a search function yet but I did post some of the info in this thread MANY pages ago. You could always sift through these and see if you can find it.

And if this info helps you out in any way then I expect a cut of the profits if you do find a suitable building to mount an antenna on.

Speak of the devil, chuikov! Someone at the Patriot must be watching us.

WORMLEYSBURG

Borough receives funds for waterfront walkway

Friday, February 24, 2006
BY ELLEN LYON
Of The Patriot-News

A longtime plan to build a walkway along Wormleysburg's waterfront is finally getting some legs.

The borough has received $299,000 in federal construction money from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and $50,000 from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the project.

This month, the Borough Council approved the initial phase, based on a community task force plan, for an 8-foot-wide asphalt path from Poplar Street to the M. Harvey Taylor Bridge.

The council also told Borough Manager Gary Berresford to apply for $249,000 from DCNR to match the PennDOT funding so the borough won't have to put up any the money.

"The grant money is out there, and we're applying for it. They have told us these funds are available," council President Tom Kanganis said.

Berresford said he also is applying for $50,000 in Cumberland County Planning Commission money for the project, known as "Imagine Wormleysburg."

The nearly mile-long path will be built between the guardrail on Front Street and the Susquehanna River, according to Tammie Myers, a senior civil engineer with Benatec Associates and the project manager.

Observation decks will be placed at intervals along the landscaped walkway "so that people can stop and linger," Myers said.

Decals also will be painted on existing sidewalks in town.

"It's going to be a delineated path through the community to connect people to the river," Myers said.

Completion of later phases to the borough line at Haldeman Street will depend on funding, she said.

Phase one is undergoing an environmental clearance process by PennDOT, which should end in July, Myers said.

Council member Mary Ann Bedard, who has championed the project for years, said she hopes the design phase can be completed this year and construction can start next year.

Bedard hopes the project will link Wormleysburg's three distinct neighborhoods. The neighborhood known as the Village lies near the river. Riverview Heights is on the hill above the river. And Pennsboro Manor is bordered by Routes 11/15 on the south, East Pennsboro Twp. on the west, Mumma Road on the north and the railroad tracks on the east.

"We are chopped up by the roads and the railroads," Bedard said. "We're hoping the trail will tie the neighborhoods together and they'll have a sense of community."

Later phases will loop the network of trails and sidewalks up to Riverview Heights, she said.

The traffic implications of the project remain a concern.

"We're going to try to propose some additional parking," Myers said. "We are evaluating parking alternatives."

Chris Gulotta, executive director of the Redevelopment Authority of Cumberland County, was an early supporter of the project.

Gulotta said a riverfront walking path would provide recreational and community development opportunities for Wormleysburg.

"Promoting walking and the highest and best use of the riverfront, I think, does a lot to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood," he said.

Joe Catalano, one of the owners of Catalano's Lounge and Restaurant along Wormleysburg's riverfront, said he is glad the borough has "a nice plan, a comprehensive plan" for the project.

"I think it's a wonderful idea. It's beautifying the asset that Wormleysburg has and making it accessible to the public," Catalano said. "It will just do nothing but increase property values."

[EastSideHBG]

What's funny is I remember a time when I could afford a rather nice apt. all by myself. Nowadays, that seems like it is out of reach for many...the cost of living is shooting up around here! Too bad salaries aren't even close to keeping up with it all.

SUSQUEHANNA TWP.

Residents oppose apartment plan

Growth will happen. What we're trying to do here is smart growth.

Friday, February 24, 2006
BY JACK SHERZER
Of The Patriot-News

A developer's request to rezone a wooded 19-acre tract along Union Deposit Road next to the Union Square Shopping Center -- a step to building 96 apartments -- is facing stiff opposition from nearby homeowners.

That's because Triple Crown Corp.'s plans call for the complex's main access to be off a side road, Canby Street, part of a small road network running through about 90 homes in the Latshmere East housing development.

Residents of the roughly 50-year-old development say traffic already poses a problem on the neighborhood's narrow two-way streets. Routing the cars from Canby to Shield Street, which connects to Union Deposit Road, will create a dangerous situation, they said.

"The building of an apartment complex with an additional hundred-plus cars, entering and exiting from Canby, will be more than the streets can handle," said Marilyn Gephart, who lives on Shield Street. "Please do not allow a developer to profit at the expense of the residents."

More than 70 residents attended a meeting Wednesday on the rezoning at Susquehanna Twp. Middle School.

In addition to traffic concerns, many of the residents voiced concerns about how the complex would be built on the land, which is dominated by a steep ravine with a stream running down the center. Residents say they worry the waterway will be damaged by construction.

The township commissioners indicated they might discuss the zoning issue at their meeting on March 9.

While Mark X. DiSanto, Triple Crown's CEO, pledged to work with residents on traffic concerns, commission President Jacqueline Patton, who represents the Fifth Ward, which includes the site, said she has reservations.

"I would be inclined to vote against it," Patton said, adding that she has repeatedly heard about traffic problems.

The township's planning commission recommended against changing the zoning and the Dauphin County Conservation District voiced concern over maintaining the integrity of Spring Creek, the stream running through the site.

In his presentation, DiSanto said his request to rezone the largest section of the property would allow for lower-density development.

The proposal would change the bulk of the land from "highway commercial" to "business-office-professional." A smaller section of the tract is now zoned for residential use.

"This fits right in with existing uses," DiSanto said of the planned apartment complex. He noted that it would be close to the shopping center and an assisted-living development.

DiSanto touted quality, higher-density housing as being less taxing on local infrastructure, reducing commuting times and pressures on roads, and combatting sprawls.

He also compared his proposed three apartment buildings -- each would have 32 units -- with another development his company's Bent Creek Apartments in Silver Spring Twp.

Rents would range from $750 a month for a one-bedroom apartment to $850 for two bedrooms, DiSanto said.

Based on demographics from Bent Creek, he said 83 percent of residents would not have children, so the units would have less impact on the school district than other kinds of housing.

DiSanto also said the apartment complex would generate 37 percent fewer car trips per day than if the land were developed under existing highway commercial zoning.

He said his company would be willing to pay a portion of the cost to improve the intersection at Canby and Union Deposit if an upgrade is necessary.

"I can assure you, it will be a very high-quality community," he said.

"Growth will happen. What we're trying to do here is smart growth."

JACK SHERZER: 255-8263 or jsherzer@patriot-news.com

TRIPLE CROWN

Triple Crown Corp. (www.triplecrowncorp.com) is asking Susquehanna Twp. to rezone a 19-acre tract along Union Deposit Road for construction of three apartment buildings with a combined 96 units. %%par%%The lots front Union Deposit Road from Shield Street to the Union Square Shopping Center. Most of the site is wooded with a steep ravine and stream in the center.

********************

MIDDLETOWN

Plans for housing moving forward

Friday, February 24, 2006
BY DIANA STRICKER
For The Patriot-News

A proposed 311-unit housing complex in Middletown has a new lease on life.

Sketch plans for the Woodland Hills development were rejected by a 5-4 vote this month when the Borough Council voiced concerns about narrow streets and parking provisions.

But the developers and council members discussed the project over a two-week period and concluded the dialogue at council's Tuesday workshop.

The developers agreed to widen streets to 34 feet, instead of the proposed 28 feet.

Project attorney Mark Stanley said the developers will attempt to expand the off-site parking areas when they design the subdivision plans.

"It sounds like we have an understanding," borough Manager Jeffrey Stonehill said. "We'll put it on the March 6 agenda for official approval."

The project has been on the table since 2004.

If the sketch plan and waiver requests are approved in March, the developers can submit preliminary and final subdivision plans.

The proposal calls for 205 single-family homes, 62 duplexes and 44 town houses to be built on a 167-acre tract north of the turnpike.

The property was purchased for $642,500 in March 2004 by H-T Partners of Landisville.

It is being developed by Lake, Roeder, Hillard & Associates of Lancaster.

[EastSideHBG]

A VERY interesting statement (in bold), and I am surprised to see UGI considering leaving the area.


UGI looks to sell Harrisburg building

Friday, February 24, 2006
BY DAVID DeKOK
Of The Patriot-News

Natural gas utility UGI Corp. has put its longtime Harrisburg office building at 1500 Paxton St. on the market with an asking price of $3.8 million.

UGI spokeswoman Deborah Leuffen said the 63,000-square-foot building is "under-utilized."

Based on the building's location, near the 13th Street interchange of Interstate 83, Leuffen said UGI decided that "it may have value on the market. We have put the property up for sale to determine its market value and find out if there are any potential buyers."

Commercial Realtor Virginia Barr with High Associates in Mechanicsburg is representing UGI. She said the building is in excellent condition. It was last renovated in the early 1990s and has no deferred maintenance.

The building, on three acres of land, can be seen easily from I-83 and is passed every day by an estimated 100,000 vehicles, Barr noted.

Interest so far has come from developers, who would convert the building to all offices and lease the space to separate tenants, Barr said.

Leuffen said UGI has no definitive plans to relocate its operations in Harrisburg if the building is sold. The complex also has a garage for the company's fleet of trucks that serve customers in the Harrisburg area.

UGI constructed the building in 1930 when it was still United Gas Improvement Co. and included Philadelphia Electric Co. UGI and PECO broke apart a few years after passage of the Public Utility Holding Company Act in 1935.

[klingy04]

Unfortunately, I don't think Bridgeport Plaza in Wormleysburg (Now site of Catalano's) is going to happen. I thought I remembered reading something about it not happening a while ago, and I went fishing to find more. I found this teaser on the central penn business journal site, but can't get the rest of the article since it's archived and you have to pay for it, and I'm cheap.

Riverfront venture sinks
11/18/2005
Joe Catalano has let go of a dream.
For more than two years, the restaurateur has kept afloat his idea for a mixed-use development in Wormleysburg, between the Market Street and Walnut Street br...

If anyone can get the actual article, I'm sure it goes into more detail. Sorry to bring the bad news...I was really looking forward to the project

[EastSideHBG]

Thanks for the article, klingy04, and sadly, I am sure it is dead on. Like I stated in a previous post I worked with GF on a project in late '04. They told me at that time when I inquired about Bridgeport, "There still needs to be a few million more secured. I hope he can do it, but if he can't, he/we are probably going to have to let this one go." When things were so quiet, I was afraid this is what happened. ARGH, that REALLY pisses me off! Such a nice project gone down the tubes!!!

[tranceclubbinphilly]

Originally Posted by wrightchr

i used to think the same thing...maybe HIA needed another runway. but the airport terminal is not nearly at the capacity is should be and building another runway wouldn't help with the airports falling passenger volumes. the current runway is over 10,000 ft and can accomodate any commercial aircraft...but it's hardly used really. even with multiple air freight services and military planes regularly using the runway, it still isn't even near capacity. the real problem here is luring low cost carriers to HIA and getting them to open up more markets to compete with BWI and PHL. HIA isn't the only airport having this problem. LVI is in a similiar position. with the recent airline bankruptcies and cost cutting measures they seam to be implimenting, smaller feeder airports like HIA will be hard pressed to compete with larger hubs within an hour and 1/2 away. and with ticket prices sometimes hundreds of dollars cheaper in Philly and Baltimore, it's no wonder why people choose to drive the extra distance.

Your right, everytime I drove by there or took the train from Philly to Harrisburg I always noticed that the runway and taxi ways had little to no planes waiting on them. Its really sad, as a hopefull future airline pilot I would love nothing more than to have my route end at HIA. A guy can dream, right?

[chuikov]

Interesting updates on the Wormleysburg waterfront. That area has alot of potential because of the existing businesses and the potential for the footbridge to the island to be re-opened. I'll bet private investment would really pick up in that area if the wake of some wisely spent public money.

[EastSideHBG]

Without a doubt, one of the biggest boom areas these days is West Hanover Twp.!

Office-building project approved

Saturday, February 25, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

Community Behavioral HealthCare Network of Pennsylvania has been cleared to build a 32,000-square-foot office building in Cloverhill Business Park at Jonestown Road and Route 39.

West Hanover Twp. supervisors approved the plan with standard conditions, said Robert Leonard, township zoning administrator.

Community Behavioral HealthCare Network of Pennsylvania, known as CBHNP, is a nonprofit corporation with more than 100 member agencies that provide behavioral health services in the state. It contracts with insurers, HMOs and others to provide managed drug, alcohol and mental health services.

CBHNP leases offices at 5425 Jonestown Road and in Gateway Office Park in Lower Paxton Twp. It plans to consolidate those offices in the new building, which will have 10,000 square feet of additional space.

"We have grown significantly over the last five years," said Robert Bickford, chief finance officer for CBHNP.

Bickford said CBHNP hopes to be in the new building by Oct. 1.

CBHNP is buying five acres from the family of Benjamin and Dorothy Bretzin in the 45-acre Cloverhill Business Park, said Bill Gladstone of NAI/CIR, a commercial real estate firm in Wormleysburg. Gladstone declined to disclose the purchase price until after settlement in March. The asking price was $195,000 an acre, he said.

[EastSideHBG]

Some sad (and weird) news this morning.

Woman's death in 23-story fall is investigated as suspicious

Sunday, February 26, 2006
BY IRVIN KITTRELL III
Of The Patriot-News

A woman last night fell 23 stories to her death from an apartment in the Pennsylvania Place building, Harrisburg police Chief Charles Kellar said.

[EastSideHBG]

The cost of housing keeps on skyrocketing around here!

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
AUTUMN RIDGE, LOWER PAXTON TWP.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Name: Autumn Ridge, Central Dauphin School District, Lower Paxton Twp., Dauphin County. Directions: From Harrisburg, take Interstate 81 north to Exit 72, Paxtonia. Go south on Mountain Road, then take a left on Old Jonestown Road. Turn right on Koch Lane into the community. Builder: Fine Line Homes. Prices: $336,200 and up Features: Rural setting features natural wetland and year-round pond and hiking trails. In a four-phase project, four lots are being developed in phase two and three lots are under construction in phase three. Public utilities are underground. Some specifics: Home exteriors are vinyl with brick or stone. The Bryn Mawr model, with 2,685 square feet, has a large sitting room off the master bedroom suite, while the Potomac model, with 2,507 square feet, has a three-car garage and covered rear patio. Hours: 1-5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 1-4 p.m. Sundays. Schedule an appointment. Information: Call Bernie Campanella at 443-9009 or Marlena Miller at 574-2649.

************

And I guess it won't be getting better any time soon either...

GOING UP

Area builders note rise in construction costs

Sunday, February 26, 2006
BY JOEL BERG
For The Patriot-News

Builders and developers in central Pennsylvania are bracing for higher construction costs this spring. The increases will be enough to bump up leasing rates and alter designs on some projects.

In commercial construction, look for smaller buildings, fewer public areas, more cubicles and fewer individual offices, builders and developers said.

"There's going to be a lot of analysis of what we can live with, what we can live without," said Ralph Klinepeter, president of Pyramid Construction Services Inc. in Hampden Twp. "And we're being asked more and more to give suggestions on how to control or reduce costs."

For example, a customer might ask Pyramid to consider using cheaper materials for the facade of a building, Klinepeter said.

Fuel prices are one factor behind the surge in building costs, Klinepeter said. "Not too many days go by that we don't get notices of cost increases," he said. Concrete has jumped to $100 a yard, from $60 to $70.

Other factors include demand for construction materials from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast, where reconstruction efforts are continuing after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Developers also cited demand from China, whose growing economy continues to devour raw materials. Preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing are putting additional pressure on supplies.

"They have absorbed a tremendous amount of lumber, steel and cement," said Gregg Schwotzer, president of developer Crossgates Inc. in Swatara Twp.

For example, the price of plywood has shot up over the last few years to $30 for a standard 4- by 8-foot sheet, Schwotzer said. The same sheet used to cost $8.

Overall, he said, prices have risen about 15 percent in the last two years.

Developers could seek to recover higher building costs by charging tenants more, and they might have little choice, Schwotzer said.

"It's going to be a function of the economy. If companies are expanding, then they're going to have to pay the higher lease rates. So it will have an inflationary impact across the economy," he said.

Some people in search of cheaper space could upgrade older office buildings to modern standards, which can cost less than new construction, Schwotzer said, citing his firm's work on the former AMP Inc. buildings at TecPort Business Center.

"Buildings that are 20, 30, 40 years old are the type that may wind up being renovated," he said.

So far, high costs haven't pushed companies to abandon their building plans, Schwotzer said. "Certainly, we have seen some sticker shock," he noted.

A more important factor in corporate plans could be interest rates, which affect the cost of borrowing money, said Dennis Fraker, vice president of Palmer Construction Co. in Harrisburg.

As long as rates don't climb too high, companies still will want to build, he said. "We're very optimistic here at Palmer."

[EastSideHBG]

A little blurb in the Trade Talk section about the theatre at the HBG Mall:


Theater complex planned:

The owner of Harrisburg Mall plans to construct a 14-screen movie theater complex at the Swatara Twp. mall.

Feldman Mall Properties Inc. said it has reached an agreement with Aliance Management Inc. of New Albany, Ind., which operates as The Great Escape Theatres.

The theater complex will be behind the mall, between the Boscov's and Hecht's department stores. The entrance to the theaters will be through the mall.

Feldman hopes to open the theaters by the first or second quarter of 2007.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Some sad (and weird) news this morning.

Woman's death in 23-story fall is investigated as suspicious

Sunday, February 26, 2006
BY IRVIN KITTRELL III
Of The Patriot-News

A woman last night fell 23 stories to her death from an apartment in the Pennsylvania Place building, Harrisburg police Chief Charles Kellar said.

Man, 25, charged in woman's fatal fall

Girlfriend dangled out 23rd-floor window, investigators told

Monday, February 27, 2006
BY CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of The Patriot-News

A 25-year-old man who recently moved to Harrisburg is charged with criminal homicide. His 23-year-old girlfriend is dead. And law enforcement officials are trying to piece together the story of the woman's fall from the man's 23rd-floor apartment.

City officials have identified Rachel M. Kozlusky of Saylorsburg, Monroe County, as the victim in what Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico called "a bizarre crime." Police have charged her boyfriend, Kevin P. Eckenrode, in her death. Marsico said Eckenrode moved to Harrisburg from Scranton "a month or so ago."

Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed said Eckenrode told police that he and Kozlusky had been engaged in horseplay when he lost his grip on her arms while dangling her out a small window of the 25-story Pennsylvania Place building in the 300 block of Chestnut Street.

Kozlusky's body, clad only in panties and a sweater, struck and broke a circular Plexiglas skylight in the building's portico, then fell onto the pavement in front of the entrance to the main lobby. Kozlusky suffered massive head and internal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

"It is a horrible tragedy. It just doesn't make sense. We are trying to find out what possible motivation there could be to hold someone out a 23rd-floor window," Marsico said.

Pennsylvania Place is one of the tallest buildings in Harrisburg and is two blocks from the city's Restaurant Row. The building has 286 apartments on floors five through 25.

Commercial tenants occupy the first four floors. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the state attorney general's Bureau of Consumer Protection have offices in the building.

At the entrance to the building, which faces Morrison Towers Apartments and the Harrisburg railyards, residents yesterday dodged an oval of orange cones that outlined an area of pavement where Kozlusky's body landed. It was stained from cleanup materials. None of the dozen or so residents interviewed knew Eckenrode.

Inside the foyer, an electronic directory allows visitors to page residents to gain access to the building. State House Democratic leader Bill DeWeese and Harrisburg schools Superintendent Gerald Kohn are listed in the directory, but Eckenrode was not.

Marsico said police still don't know a lot about the backgrounds of Eckenrode or Kozlusky. Officials said they hoped to confirm reports of Eckenrode's employment with a state agency when state offices reopen this morning. They are also looking for more background on Kozlusky and the relationship between the two.

Kozlusky was president of her senior class at Pleasant Valley High School in Brodheadsville, Monroe County, where she graduated in 2000.

High school Principal John Gress remembered Kozlusky as "a leader" with a "pleasant personality.

"She always had a smile on her face," Gress said.

A man who answered the phone at Kozlusky's mother's Saylorsburg home last night refused to comment.

Eckenrode also is charged with one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Marsico said the paraphernalia charge stemmed from rolling papers found in Eckenrode's possession.

Eckenrode is being held without bail in Dauphin County Prison.

[chuikov]

The PA Place incident is very strange. Some of the other buildings in town have balconies, but like it says in the article, PA Place only has smaller windows. Here's a photo for anyone who isn't a local:

[EastSideHBG]

Keep hitting us with those rare angles, chuikov!

This is REALLY funny news! This Autozone store will be going RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the Advance Auto store! Talk about making a statement to your competitors, eh? And I sure hope it does a number on that Advance Auto store becuase every single time I have been in there I have had horrible, rude service!

Also, this just goes to show how fast Paxton St. is growing. All I know is the Swatara Twp. planners better get off their asses and fix those traffic lights because they are WAY off, and that road backs up in many places. Also, they need to install some left turn arrows to get to 83. Right now there are just solid greens in most places and people turning left during rush hour back that road up for MILES!

SWATARA TWP.

Autozone has signed a 20-year lease with Dauphin County to build a store on Paxton Street on part of the land where the old Dauphin Manor nursing home stood. Autozone will be taking the plot next to the planned Turkey Hill, which will be at Paxton and 29th streets in Swatara Twp. Under the lease, Autozone will pay the county $70,000 per year for the first 10 years; $77,000 a year for years 11 through 15; and $84,700 a year for years 15 through 20. The lease also provides for four five-year extensions with escalating amounts.

************

And my how times change! I remember a time when that mall was so conservative that when Hot Topixx opened up there were some people who protested it! Now they are getting a restaurant w/ a bar!!!

Also, it is VERY refreshing to see this area getting new restaurants in and I am impressed with the growth in this sector.

Restaurant coming to Capital City Mall

Wednesday, March 01, 2006
BY CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of The Patriot-News

A full-service restaurant with a bar is coming to Capital City Mall.

Garfields Restaurant and Pub, an Oklahoma-based chain, plans to open its seventh Pennsylvania location in a 5,000-square-foot space adjacent to the new food court at the Lower Allen Twp. mall.

The restaurant would seat 190 people and employ 90 to 100 people, a lawyer representing Eateries Inc., owner of the Garfields chain, told Lower Allen Twp. commissioners on Monday.

Eateries Inc. asked the commissioners for approval to transfer a liquor license.

The license was purchased by Eateries Inc. from an unnamed Carlisle establishment.

Peter McHugh, an attorney for Eateries Inc., said the liquor license has been inactive for four to five years so it would not be transferred from an establishment that is operating.

The Capital City Mall operation would be the fourth new restaurant in Pennsylvania for Garfields in the past year. The chain opened restaurants at malls in Selinsgrove, Stroudsburg and State College last year. The other three Pennsylvania restaurants are in the western part of the state. Garfields spokeswoman Lori Imel said the chain prefers what she called medium-sized markets.

Imel said the chain wants to open the Capital City Mall restaurant in July.

Garfields typically marks restaurant openings by donating profits during the first week to local charities, she said.

Eateries Inc., a privately held company, got its start in 1984, when the first Garfields opened in Edmond, Okla. The chain has expanded to 56 restaurants in 18 states. Fifty-one of the restaurants are owned by the company and five are operated by franchisees.

Eateries also owns the Pepperoni Grill chain.

Garfields will be the first restaurant with a liquor license and the only full-service restaurant in Capital City Mall.

But it could soon have competition on both counts.

Mall manager Donald Smith said negotiations are continuing with a restaurant interested in another 5,000 square feet of space.

The other restaurant would be near the new retail area that replaced the old food court in the mall.

[harrisburger]

i must say, 3 restaurants seems like a lot, especially since in the mid-90s gourmet at capital city, to me, meant sbarro's fine italian fare

[EastSideHBG]

And this is why very little gets accomplished in this city. A VERY sad day when teenagers could probably run a more civil council.


HARRISBURG
City Council is poor example, teenagers say
THOMPSON

Thursday, March 02, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

A group of high school students came to Harrisburg City Council this week seeking a real-life civics lesson.

Instead, the teens, all members of Harrisburg's Youth City Council, witnessed a round of bickering by their adult counterparts and ended up lecturing the real council on civility.

"I look to you as our leaders," Youth City Council President Shardae Hawkins told the council members during a public comment period after Tuesday night's session.

"I was very surprised by the behavior of one city council member to another. I felt that it was disrespectful," she said. "Me being a youth council member, I would not conduct myself in that way."

Hawkins' comments, along with those of her peers from Harrisburg's William Penn School, drew applause from residents.

Meanwhile, council members sat behind their wooden desks looking at times stone-faced, at times smiling. Members even applauded as teen after teen spoke.

"The way you all acted was very childish," said youth council CEO Jermaine Taliaferro. "The next meeting should not be like this."

And sophomore Shaniqua Payne, the head of the youth council's parks committee, suggested the real council could learn from watching the kids meet and debate.

"I feel we can actually do it in a better manner," she said.

Tempers on the council flared over a resolution under which the John E. Benz trust was seeking to turn over a portion of Industrial Road to the city.

The legislation was under the control of Councilwoman Linda Thompson, the chairwoman of the public works committee. Thompson had held a committee meeting on the resolution but did not refer it to the full council in time for Tuesday's meeting.

Council President Vera Jean White made a motion that the full council vote the resolution out of committee for action at Tuesday's meeting.

White was backed by members Patty Kim, Dan Miller and Wanda R.D. Williams, and the resolution passed, 4-3.

The tactic touched off criticism from Thompson, Vice President Susan Brown Wilson and member Gloria Martin-Roberts.

Thompson called the action a "grotesque political display," and warned, "What goes around, comes around."

Thompson, Wilson and Roberts suggested that White and the three other members had met illegally to line up the four votes needed to remove the resolution from committee. Such a secret meeting of a majority of council members would violate the state Sunshine Law.

White said no further time was needed to approve what amounted to a donation to the city. She chided Thompson for what she called political grandstanding.

"Legislation has to be moved, and it's my job to do it," White said.

The feud might indicate that factions are hardening into what could become a 4-3 split on the council, which seated three new members in January.

Youth council mentor specialist Brenda Spencer said she had no idea when she arranged for her students to attend the meeting that they'd be in for political fireworks. But she hoped that all involved would learn a lesson.

After the lectures by as many as five members of the Youth City Council, White issued a public apology.

"To the young people, I apologize," she said. "There is a dark cloud within this organization."

Youth council Vice President Anthony Beckem suggested that the real council should cooperate a little more. He said it works for his group of teen leaders.

"I always said if we can't work together, nothing is going to get accomplished," Beckem said.

[EastSideHBG]

I am posting this article because I thought some of the residents' comments were interesting and also because I do feel they have a point (at the end, in underline):

FAIRVIEW TWP.

Dozens criticize proposed housing development

Thursday, March 02, 2006
BY SARAH WILSON
For The Patriot-News

More than 60 Fairview Twp. residents this week protested a proposal for a residential development that they said will bring water and sewer problems and increase traffic along Old Stage and Old Forge roads.

The development, proposed by Developers Realty Corp. of West Hartford, Conn., and slated for the Samuel Weaver property at 971 Old Forge Road, could include up to 188 single-family houses on more than 144 acres.

At the Monday night supervisors meeting, anger and distrust lent a strained tone to proceedings in the crowded room as residents approached the panel one by one with apprehensions and complaints about the proposed development.

A representative from the consulting firm Herbert, Rowland & Grubic Inc. said the development would ideally be connected to a sewer system in Lower Allen Twp. through a main running along Old Forge Road.

Fairview Twp. residents living within 150 feet of the main would be required to hook into it at their own cost. That announcement angered many residents.

Joyce Kernes, a township resident, expressed doubt about Old Forge Road's ability to handle increased traffic.

"A lot of us are wondering if there's ever been a road [for developers] to deal with like Old Forge Road," she said.

Janet Ashby pointed out that Developers Realty is a commercial developer and questioned the company's ability to address residential concerns.

Residents also expressed doubts about whether the supervisors had the township's best interests at heart.

"Is this township for sale? Is this township Hampden Twp.? Because I didn't want to live there," Martha Klingensmith said.

Resident Tom Varner agreed.

"The character of this township is changing," he told the board. "No disrespect intended, but you guys are working for us, not Connecticut."

Other residents expressed fear that the development, with houses priced at $300,000 and up, alongside developments such as Hedgerow, marks a trend toward high-end housing that would ultimately edge out low-income residents.

The board voted to delay its decision until April 10.

[EastSideHBG]

AWESOME idea, and let the revitilization of DT Hershey continue!

Hershey Museum to move, transform

Thursday, March 02, 2006
BY DIANA FISHLOCK
Of The Patriot-News

The Hershey Museum is preparing a transformation, with a new name and plans to open in a larger downtown building in 2008.

The Hershey Story, The Museum at Chocolatetown Square, is to be a $19 million museum about Milton Hershey, his school and town. The two-story museum would have at least 20,000 square feet of space on each floor, and would include meeting spaces and a cafe.

Hershey Entertainment & Resort Co. donated land for the museum at Chocolate Avenue and Linden Street in Derry Twp., beside the Hershey Press Building, said Marta Howell, executive director of the M.S. Hershey Foundation.

The Foundation is a nonprofit organization that operates the museum and other attractions.

Organizers hope to break ground this fall, Howell said.

"We think it will be a great addition to downtown," she said.

"We have been planning for a new museum for 15 years and seriously for the past two years," Howell said.

Hershey Museum staff and community volunteers realized that in moving they could completely transform the museum to be more interactive and modern, Howell said.

The current museum has 35,000 square feet of space in a 90-year-old building that once housed a convention center and ice rink.

Museum organizers are asking people to submit stories about their memories of life in Hershey or Milton Hershey himself for a broader, richer view of the community, said Pam Whitenack, director of the Hershey Community Archives.

The stories will be available at the archives and some will be incorporated into narratives and scripts at the museum.

"We want to build The Hershey Story from the inside out by collecting the stories of those touched by Milton Hershey and his legacy," Howell said.

Whitenack said the museum is interested in hearing descriptions of neighborhoods.

For a long time, museums showed objects inside cases with little labels, senior curator Amy Bischof said.

"People today want more," she said.

The museum is to feature permanent and changeable exhibits, including one on the 1893 Colombian Exhibit in Chicago, where Milton S. Hershey bought chocolate-making machinery on his way to building America's biggest chocolate company.

In the Chocolate Dreams area, people will be able to see Hershey product advertisements, tins and labels and learn about Hershey's war effort, Howell said.

In Chocolate Town, USA, visitors will be able to learn about Hershey's plan for the town and see a 32-by-17 foot model of it as it was in 1945, with running trolleys. A theater will show a 15-18 minute film.

DIANA FISHLOCK: 255-8251 or dfishlock@patriot-news.com.

BE A PART OF HISTORY

To contribute a story to the museum, visit www.hersheystory.org or call 533-1777 for an appointment to record a story at the Hershey Press Building.

For more on the M.S. Hershey Foundation or Hershey Museum, visit www.mshersheyfoundation.org

[chuikov]

Dave,

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry about the Harrisburg city council article. It's totally believable though. I've seen some interesting behavior at various Twp and boro meetings before. You never know what you may be walking into at those things - old grudges etc. Then they take it out on each other by retaliating when completely unrelated issues come before the board. It's just plain nuts sometimes.