The Strange Case of
the Missing Stream
(Hiding environmental impacts from the
public so
they won't know you have to destroy a stream
to build a shopping center)
The Cocalico Commons shopping center which recently received final plan approval by East Cocalico Township is located at the intersection of US 222 and Colonel Howard Blvd. There are both wetlands and streams on the property. The map below is from the Township's Act 537 plan, and shows the locations of areas that are likely wetlands (in green) and streams in blue (with the site boundaries highlighted in red):
This map only shows areas that are "probably" wetlands and streams. As required by the Township, the developer had a wetland delineation done by their consultant, and then had the United States Army Corps of Engineers do a "Jurisdictional Determination" to verify the consultant's work. The Army Corps found that there are three federally regulated streams ("Waters of the United States") on the site as well as areas of wetlands. One of these streams is the one that crosses the site diagonally.
On the plans that the developer submitted to the Township, they showed the wetlands and the stream that runs along Col. Howard Blvd. as determined by the Army Corps. However, their plan didn't show the streams that crossed the site across the middle (right under where the proposed Lowe's store is to built). These include two streams, one intermittent (doesn't flow all year) and one that starts at a spring which flows much of the time. The red arrows show where the "missing" streams are located, and the blue ones show how the other stream was shown on that plan (Cocalico Commons, Existing Conditions Plan):
At the Conditional Use hearing for the property held on July 9, 2008 (see the bottom of page 9) I informed the Township about the streams missing from the plan. I also mentioned this at various times throughout the approval process, up to the final approval which was given on June 3, 2009 (see page 5). The developers attorney even denied that the stream was missing from the plan at that meeting. The supervisors apparently just don't care that the plan fails to show a stream that is being destroyed to build that shopping center. They approved the plan anyway, and are not requiring the developer to correctly show the existing conditions on the site. The total length of the streams that will be filled or put into a pipe under the Lowe's store is 1120 feet.
Why would they try to hide the stream from the public? The supervisors and the Planning Commission knew about it as I had informed them. The only reason I can see why they would go along with hiding the stream is to prevent public outrage over a stream that is being lost strictly because of profit motives.
© Ken McCrea 2009