Letter to the Editor: Marple's Been Punked With the Walmart Project

Once upon a time, in the last few years, there was a shopping center called Marple Crossroads that was in such tough economic times that they were allowing a book store to fill a store and not pay rent,
occupancy was less than 50 percent, and, well, perhaps the theme song should have been Desolation Row.

At least that is what the owners and the wanted you to believe. The only way to save the shopping center, they said, was to allow a Walmart Supercenter to fill the center. Miracles of
miracles have occurred and the shopping center is at 99 percent capacity a couple of years later. All is well with the world, or is it?

As we have noted in the last year and a half, there has been no planning for the Walmart, particularly with regard to traffic issues. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) requires a highway occupancy permit for such developments
because the addition of the Walmart to the existing center is considered a change in traffic volumes such that a new or updated Highway Occupancy Permit is required from the property owner to reflect the change. It is the responsibility of the shopping center/property owner to file for an occupancy permit.

This sounds like a change of use because it is in fact a change of use. Simply stated, a Super Center is not the same as a retail store. This is why the addition of the Walmart should have been sent to the county for a review. Why would the Marple Commissioner’s approve construction permits before an HOP was approved?

So what has occurred? There is only one entrance, and that alone should have been enough to ensure that a Super Center was not the right tenant for this shopping center. There is not adequate parking,
and many parking spots were lost with both recent additions to the center as well as the recent roadway in the rear of the building. Will there be a waiver requiring less parking spots?

The commissioners previously noted that the tractor trailers would be stored along Route 1 but that is now a roadway so the trailers needing cooling will be parked near the residents. Were the required storm water studies completed with the additions to the rear of K&G, or was a waiver supplied? Fire lanes are not adequate and we are still waiting to see a review of problem.

The Marple Commissioners refuse public comment at meetings and current Commissioners President Mike Molinaro’s behavior was so outrageous at a recent meeting that he agreed to meet with residents in order to “answer all questions and put this to rest." The meeting offer was of course rescinded. So much for transparency in government. Commissioner Jim Balk appears to be the only honest man, and he continues to state that there were several meetings with Walmart before this went public, clearly a Sunshine Law violation. Commissioner Dan Leefson continues to sing the same tune–"this was a done deal before it even began."

In the Walmart fairytale, residents will pay less taxes, traffic will decrease, unemployment will go down, home values will increase, safety will improve and we should be fortunate to have one more
grocery store in an area already over saturated with grocery stores. Walmart will be sending millions of dollars into the local tax coffers, and donating to area civic groups.

Of course, that is only a fairytale and numerous studies point out that none of this is true when Walmart comes to town but then, of
course, it will be too late to change. Sorry, Springfield, Marple, and all surrounding communities, you’ve been punked.

Patricia Naughton
Writer for No Marple Walmart
Springfield Resident