Published: October 14, 2008 11:06 pm         

Lowe’s store, restaurant planned for Route 22 plaza

EBENSBURG — A Lowe’s Home Improvement store will anchor a new shopping center east of the Wal-Mart plaza on Route 22 near the intersection of Route 219, if Cambria Township officials approve the plan.

In yet another sign of future large-scale development along Route 22, Ebensburg attorney and developer Dino Persio submitted a rezoning request to township supervisors on Monday.

The specific action would change 10.4 acres from residential to commercial, matching other Persio-owned commercial land near Wal-Mart and along Jamesway Road, which runs parallel to Route 22.

Although Persio declined to reveal specific plans for the site, sources close to the project confirmed that Lowe’s will anchor the new shopping area.

A national chain restaurant also is expected to locate in the area.

Economic development leaders applauded the news.

“Without question, any kind of development like this is more than welcome. We would be encouraging such projects because there are always benefits like jobs and revenue,” said Kenneth Mesko, director of the Cambria County Industrial Authority.

“I welcome the development along the Route 22 corridor, and we’ll see more of it,” said Dan Penatzer, Ebensburg Borough manager.

“It’s good for the entire area,” he said.

Township supervisors have the sole discretion to approve a rezoning, township Solicitor Dennis Govachini said.

“The supervisors can approve or reject it. It does not go before the planning agencies,” he said.

Govachini said the property will be posted with signs advertising the rezoning request and all nearby property owners will be notified and can testify at a public hearing.

The site, although adjacent to the Wal-Mart complex, also is near a housing development.

Several houses along Jamesway Road have been bought by developers, including Persio, and Decker Jewelry is located among them. Other houses still are private residences.

Although supervisors offered no comment Monday on the request, they have been supportive in the past of Persio’s plans for further commercial development on that stretch of Route 22.

In 2006, they committed sewage capacity to the site, which then was vaguely described as “a retail center.”

On the other side of Route 22, a portion of the Ebensburg Center has been sold to a private development group, which is in the process of demolishing a building but has not revealed plans for the site.

Also long-rumored is a new motel somewhere along Route 22.

At the Wal-Mart site, a new Lowe’s would be the second to locate in Cambria County. One is near The Galleria shopping mall north of Johnstown.

Lowe’s is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Carolina, it is now the second-largest hardware chain in the U.S., behind Home Depot.

     

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