Hempfield is looking to reallocate state grant funding for traffic improvements after supervisors officially acknowledged that a 2020 site plan for a proposed Menards home improvement store has expired.
It is unclear if Menards will resubmit a site plan to develop the property it owns off Route 30 near Westmoreland Mall, though Supervisor Doug Weimer hopes that is the case.
“I’m optimistic Menards will move forward; it’s on their timeline,” he said. “This by no means means that we’ve heard that they’re not coming.”
A Menards spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment Monday.
Township supervisors previously granted an extension to the site plan, originally approved in August 2020, and continued discussions with Menards beyond the expiration at the end of 2025, officials said. The state municipal planning code sets a five-year expiration date, though municipalities can grant extensions.
Menard Inc. owns four properties on a hill above Route 30 that once housed a Ramada hotel and Westmoreland Athletic Club. All of the buildings have been razed.
Traffic improvements at Sheraton Drive and Donohoe Road, leading to the proposed Menards site, were planned under a $925,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. In 2020, Menards agreed to contribute $350,000 to that project as the local match.
Hempfield never received Menards’ contribution, said township manager Aaron Siko.
Supervisors approved two resolutions Monday — one acknowledging the expiration of the site plan and a second authorizing Siko to discuss with DCED the potential to reallocate the $925,000 grant to another project in Hempfield. After getting an extension, the grant is set to expire June 30, 2027.
“In the interest of the dollars that have been allocated through that grant, the board ultimately wanted to try to reappropriate those funds to another project in the community,” Siko said.
The proposed Hempfield store would have been among the Wisconsin-based company’s first in Pennsylvania. Stores have also been proposed in Fayette and Washington counties.
Menards has the third-most locations in the U.S. behind fellow home improvement chains Lowe’s and Home Depot. The two closest locations among its more than 300 stores in 15 states are just over the border in West Virginia, near Wheeling and Morgantown.
The combined assessed value of the Hempfield properties is $319,640, according to county property records, which equals just under $40,000 total in property taxes paid annually to the township, school district and Westmoreland County. The assessed value would be updated if the property is developed.
Any future development of the property likely will require traffic improvements, Weimer said.
“Hempfield Township values its relationship with Menards and appreciates the company’s continued ownership and stewardship of this important commercial property,” he said in a statement. “We remain open to working constructively with Menards on a future development concept that is viable for the company, appropriate for the site and beneficial to the community.”