Ferguson Township’s Board of Supervisors this week approved a land subdivision plan that sets the stage for development of Centre County’s second Rutter’s store.
The York-based convenience store and gas station chain is looking to build a store along Blue Course Drive at the West College Avenue intersection. PennTerra Engineering submitted on behalf of M&G Realty — Rutter’s real estate development company — a subdivision plan to split a 9.234-acre lot currently owned by John Imbt into a 6.313 commercial lot, where the gas station would be located, and a 2.921-acre stormwater management lot.
Supervisors approved the final subdivision plan 4-0 on Tuesday. Planning commission unanimously recommended approval during its Sept. 25 meeting.
Rutter’s has not yet submitted a land development plan for the site.
Jenna Wargo, township planning and zoning director, said the company is working with township engineers to address stormwater management and traffic issues prior to submitting the plan. The subdivided stormwater management lot will continue to serve other nearby Imbt-owned properties but not the commercial lot, which Rutter’s is purchasing and which will have its own stormwater management.
As part of the subdivision plan, sidewalks will be added along Blue Course Drive and West College Avenue, connecting with the sidewalk in front of the neighboring Blaise Alexander Hyundai property.
A traffic impact study requires a signalized intersection at the Blue Course Drive entrance to the property as part of the land development plan, TIm Bieber, site development and project manager for Rutter’s, said at the planning commission meeting. That entrance driveway would then connect to Old Block Road along the Blaise Alexander property, creating road and driveway borders around each side of the planned Rutter’s.
Old Block Road will serve as a West College Avenue entrance to the site and neighboring businesses.
“We would anticipate anyone going west on College would want to go in there,” Bieber said.
A preliminary subdivision plan for the site was reviewed in August 2022, but complications surrounding Old Block Road, which is a private drive, caused the delay in submitting a final subdivision plan.
“This is a pretty simple subdivision, however, there’s been a lot of conflicting documents on Old Block Road and it’s been our job to straighten that out,” Bieber said.
Private street agreements with all adjacent property owners are required, Wargo said. Those have been addressed, she added, and have been reviewed with the property owners by the township solicitor.
Because rights to the private drive were unclear, all adjacent property owners, including Rutter’s, agreed to relinquish rights to Old Block Road and new documents are being put in place to establish rights for ingress and egress and maintenance, Bieber said.
“Everything is predicated upon us rebuilding Old Block Road, making the connector to Blue Course Drive and installing a traffic signal,” Bieber said. “At the end of the day, on Old Block Road, it’s a win-win for everybody. It clears up a lot of confusion. It establishes maintenance responsibility, and for those businesses that use Old Block Road, they’ll now have access to a signal at Blue Course Drive.”
Rutter’s opened its first Centre County location in 2020 at 731 Rishel Hill Road in Benner Township.
The company’s second Centre County location is one of two proposed gas station and convenience stores expected to go through the land development process in the near future in Ferguson Township.
Wawa plans to build a store at 169 W. Aaron Dr., near the intersection with North Atherton Street, and was recently granted a zoning variance for the site. The Philadelphia-area chain has not yet submitted a land development plan for the location, and residents of the nearby Overlook Heights neighborhood have raised concerns about traffic impacts.
