Kitchen-Cabinet Business Coming to Route 51, a Gold-Star Girl Scout and More (Aug. 17 Whitehall Council Notes)

Citizen Complaint

Resident Donald Nolte, of 100 Lewis Court, and his daughter presented a complaint to the Council on Wednesday night regarding damage done to their lawn by workers repairing sewer lines.

“I spoke to Ms. Nolte at her property and saw the tracks going up and down the yard,” said Linda J. Book, council president. “It was my understanding that a contractor was going to come back to correct the problem after Labor Day.”

The Noltes, however, expressed concern that Labor Day was too late and wanted a contractor of their own choosing, saying that they have had bad experiences with ones selected by the borough.

Though no decision was made on Wednesday night, council members reached a consensus that the issue should be resolved as soon as possible.

Gold Award

Whitehall Mayor James F. Nowalk recognized Girl Scout Brenda Evanovich for her achievement of the Gold Award.

“It is the equivalent of the Eagle Scout award for Boy Scouts,” Nowalk said.

One of Brenda’s recent accomplishments noted by the council was her efforts in fundraising for, planning and leading a tennis clinic for girls.

“It took a lot of work to get all the girls to attend the clinic,” Brenda said. “I’m proud of them.”

Council member Kathleen N. DePuy, an avid tennis player, said that she thought that it was “a wonderful project.”

New Kitchen-Cabinet Business Coming to Route 51

The council approved a request by business owner Art Campisano on Wednesday night to open a business at 2735 Saw Mill Run Blvd. with the understanding that Campisano will agree to doing some landscaping to the property.

The business, Kitchen Cabinet Factory Outlet, already has another location on Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville, PA.

Overlay District

Council members also discussed an ongoing “overlay district” project along Route 51, as there is some confusion with those involved about what the project means for Whitehall.

Engineer Ruthann L. Omer said that, unlike the case with Campisano’s business, not all business owners would be willing to agree to landscaping requests by the borough. With an overlay district, one set of zoning rules would apply to all business along the Route 51 corridor, regardless of which municipality that they are in.

Omer also said that the overlay district will help to determine where sidewalks are needed along Route 51.

“Some people say, ‘We never want to have a sidewalk,’” Omer said, “but I see people using the sidewalk to walk to the buses.

“I think this will be a positive thing.”

Omer said that the overlay district includes a long stretch of Route 51 from the Liberty Tunnels to the Elizabeth Bridge, but Greg Jones, executive director of , which is overseeing the overlay-district project, said on Thursday that, formally, the only two municipalities to agree on a uniform zoning code at this point are Whitehall and Brentwood boroughs.