Path cleared for road through Northern Lights  By: Bill Vidonic

Beaver County Times Saturday January 2, 2009 10:27 PM

ECONOMY — The state Supreme Court refusal last week to hear a supermarket chain’s appeal should end the roadblocks to a major retail development on vacant land adjacent to the Northern Lights shopping center in Economy, the borough’s mayor says. “Without a doubt,” Mayor David Poling said Saturday of the likelihood that a new retail complex could rise from what’s now a wooded area. Daniel Donovan, a spokesman for Giant Eagle supermarkets, said Saturday the company was “unable to comment on legal matters.” Representatives from Northern Lights couldn’t be reached Saturday. In November 2007, Economy filed a declaration of taking, seizing land through the middle of the struggling shopping center from Route 65 through the former site of the J.C. Penney store. The borough said it needed the land to build a road that would stretch from Route 65 east to 230 acres of undeveloped land up the hill from the shopping center. According to Beaver County tax assessment records, the land off Phillips Street Extension is owned by the estate of deceased Beaver County Dr. W. Irwin S. Boal. The land, with a market value of $55,300, remains under contract with East Coast Development Co. in Summerville, S.C., Poling said. In 2008, Giant Eagle and Plaza Northern Limited Partnership, which owns the plaza, objected to the property taking. Plaza attorneys wrote in court documents that the plaza owners would be harmed by the condemnation. Giant Eagle attorneys argued that the borough improperly used eminent domain powers. The attorneys said there’s already access from various points to the Boal property, including off Tevebaugh Hollow Road.   Borough officials have said the best access would be from a new road that, in effect, would bisect the plaza. Giant Eagle attorneys said they hadn’t been properly notified of the condemnation; a Beaver County judge disagreed, an opinion upheld by Commonwealth Court in June. The Commonwealth Court ruling was appealed to the state Supreme Court. In an order dated Dec. 29, the state’s highest court refused to hear the appeal. Damages to be awarded to the plaza owners for the property taking are still undecided. Poling said that Economy solicitor Dale Fouse told him the appeal to the Supreme Court was the final appeal that Giant Eagle and the shopping center owners could make; Fouse couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday. Poling said that when the project was first discussed more than three years ago, developers said it could bring 440 jobs to Beaver County. Construction costs, excluding the cost of clearing the land, were estimated at $35 million, Poling said. Poling said Saturday that without permission from East Coast, he could not say what major retailer is proposed for the project, but that the developers have assured him they remain committed to the project, despite the troubled economy. East Coast has previously been linked to Walmart developments. Poling said he hopes the project can begin in earnest later this year.

 

 

 

 

Court clears way for development near Northern Lights in Economy By Bill Vidonic

Times StaffPublished: Thursday, June 11, 2009 7:15 AM EDT

Commonwealth Court has upheld a Beaver County Court decision that could eventually lead the way to a major retail development on land overlooking the Northern Lights shopping center in Economy.

 

The legal battle over a portion of shopping center land dates back to November 2007, when Economy filed a so-called declaration of taking. The borough took land through the middle of the shopping center, from Route 65 to the former site of the J.C. Penney store.

 

The borough said it needs the land to build a road stretching from Route 65 up to a parcel of land, about 230 acres, above the shopping center. The land, owned by the estate of deceased Beaver County doctor W. Irwin S. Boal, is under contract with East Coast Development Co. in Summerville, S.C.

 

ECDC has been linked to Wal-Mart developments, but no retailer has been publicly identified for the potential development.

 

In 2008, Giant Eagle and Plaza Northern Limited Partnership, which owns the plaza, filed objections to the taking of Northern Lights property. Plaza attorneys wrote in court documents that the condemnation would harm the owners. Giant Eagle attorneys wrote that the borough improperly used eminent domain powers, as there’s already access to the Boal property, including Tevebaugh Hollow Road, which runs along the eastern side of the property.

 

Borough officials have said that the best access would be from a new road connecting Route 65 to the Boal property.

 

Giant Eagle alleged that it wasn’t properly notified of the condemnation of the land, so it couldn’t respond in a timely fashion.

 

Borough solicitor Dale Fouse said Wednesday that the borough took the proper steps to notify affected parties, including doing title searches to notify property owners.

 

Also, Fouse said, notices were delivered to every tenant in the shopping center.

 

Fouse said parties would have 14 days to ask Commonwealth Court for new arguments, or 30 days to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

 

Michael K. Parrish, a Pittsburgh attorney representing Giant Eagle, said Wednesday that he hadn’t seen the decision. Other attorneys representing the plaza couldn’t be reached Wednesday.

 

Economy Mayor David Poling said that he was “thrilled to death” about the decision and that he hopes the retail development project can move forward soon.

 

Poling said the borough and the Ambridge Area School District have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a plaza assessment appeal in the last several years.

 

The new project, Poling said, “could mean everything from tax dollars to jobs to competitive shopping, and actually a nice business district again.”