Clock is ticking on Home Depot decision

By DIANE GLYNN

WESTFALL — Westfall Township Supervisors will have until Wednesday, March 20 before Home Depot USA’s application to build a new 140,000 square-foot store at Reuben Bell Drive will again resurface.

Supervisors may have been ready to make a decision on whether Home Depot has jumped all the hurdles set by Westfall municipal codes at the March 5 meeting, but without the attendance of Home Depot representatives, there was nothing to be done.

Attorneys for Home Depot have urged Westfall Supervisors to grant final approval to the project as the applicants have met all the conditions set forth when the township gave conditional approval to the project last fall.

The March 20 public hearing at 7:00 p.m. at the Delaware Valley High School auditorium, scheduled by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), plans to elicit commentary from individuals prior to issuing the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The DEP permit poses the final stumbling block to the Home Depot project.

The NPDES application submitted by Home Depot USA proposes that storm water from related construction activities at the 20-acre site will be diverted into the Delaware River. The application is available for review at the Pike County Conservation District.

Individuals who wish to testify at the hearing must submit a written notice of their intent to speak at the hearing, and keep testimony to less than 10 minutes.

The main concerns regarding the NPDES permit, according to Pike Conservation District Manager Susan Beecher, are erosion control during the construction phase, and storm water management after construction is completed.

“The overarching goal is simply to protect water quality,” says Beecher.

The Pike Conservation District will only make a recommendation to the DEP after the public commentary phase of the proceedings, Beecher said.

Since preliminary approval was granted to Home Depot by Westfall Supervisors last fall, the list of conditions has certainly dwindled, according to Westfall Supervisor Ken Thiele, who expects the township’s final decision to be forthcoming at the April 9 meeting, as municipal approval can only be granted in this case after the final NPDES permit is approved.

The clock began ticking on the township’s 90-day review period on January 9.