Trying to get off the road

MILFORD — Milford's newest drug store is ready to open, but can't just yet.

To do business on a state highway you need a PennDOT permit to access the highway from your parking lot and to open a new business in Milford Township you need a certificate of occupancy from the township.

When Carl Braunagel and Peter Falli bought the small strip mall opposite Apple Valley last summer it already had two tenants and an active parking lot. They did renovations and paving in the lot and hired staff.

But they can't open, because they didn't get a new permanent driveway permit when the use of the property changed and the applicability of the temporary permit they did get last fall is in question.

Braunagel complained to the Milford supervisors Monday that he's been "jumping through hoops" for approvals since last July. He and Falli appeared Monday to ask the supervisors to accept a bond for whatever costs PennDOT's approval of a permit may be, to allow them to get their certificate of occupancy.

The supervisors were concerned about their accepting a bond for a use that might be in violation of the temporary permit. "They usually have restrictions on traffic or are for construction only," Supervisors Chair Don Quick said.

Quick wanted to see the temporary permit, but the pharmacists, accompanied by their engineer Scott Quinn, did not bring it with them.

Township Solicitor Doug Jacobs scolded Braunagel for making the request without producing documentation that would allow the township to make an informed decision. He said they were "asking the township to take on a problem you created," after making the issue into a media story. He referred to a television report on the pharmacists' problems which aired earlier in the day.

Quick recalled a visit to the property last August with Braunagel and marking off the distance to highway right of way where PennDOT's jurisdiction begins. "You've known since last August who you had to deal with." He repeatedly asked why the state application, which was said to have been made within the last month, had not been done earlier.

Despite his reservations, Quick said he would consider the bond if Braunagel produces an applicable temporary permit, "but we can't override PennDOT."

Braunagel said Wednesday that he had located his temporary permit, that it he saw no restrictive conditions, and that he planned to reappear before the supervisors at their March 19 meeting.

Quick said he had made his own inquiries with PennDOT and was told the temporary permit restricted traffic to 25 trips per day and the application for permanent permit had only been filed on the day of the supervisors meeting.

— David Hulse