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Regional Tire and Auto Repair Chain Looking to Open in Former Sears Service Center

A regional chain of tire and auto service shops is looking to breathe new life into the former Sears Auto Center next to the Nittany Mall.

Bloomsburg-based Steve Shannon Tire and Auto and mall owner Nittany Centre Realty recently requested approval from College Township to subdivide the lot at 183 Shiloh Road, where Sears Auto operated from 1998 until it closed in December 2019.

Steve Shannon has 31 locations in Pennsylvania and New York.

According to the subdivision proposal submitted by PennTerra Engineering, the existing Shiloh Road building would be updated to include a 3,310-square-foot customer and sales area, nine service bays and a 3,430-square-foot product storage area. It would have 44 parking spaces.

The overall Nittany Mall property is currently subdivided into four separately-owned lots: the main mall, Rural King, McDonald’s and the former Macy’s where a casino is proposed. The requested subdivision would subdivide the 1.284-acre former Sears Auto property from the main mall lot.

Steve Shannon would also be added to the easements, covenants and restrictions agreement that binds each of the lots for items such as shared utility, stormwater management and road access and maintenance.

At its meeting on June 21, College Township Planning Commission unanimously recommended that township council approve the subdivision, but still to be determined is a proposal for a waiver to the township’s sidewalk ordinance requirements.

The ordinance requires sidewalks around the perimeter of both lots totaling 4,635 linear square feet on Benner Pike, East College Avenue and Shiloh Road, which PennTerra estimated would cost of $185,400, assuming sidewalks only and no other work.

The waiver request instead offered a “reasonable amount” of sidewalk based on the proposed lot area compared to Nittany Mall site, similar to what Rural King was granted when its lot was subdivided in 2020.

PennTerra engineer Mark Toretti said they reviewed several options and proposed 1,160 feet of sidewalk from the store to Shiloh Road and along Shiloh to the sidewalk constructed by Rural King, because it would benefit the tire store and provide perimeter connections.

“It’s a good bit for a 1.2 acre lot,” Toretti said.

That plan would also require a waiver to reduce the sidewalk width from 5 feet to 4.5 feet along a 250-foot stretch because of a steep slope and existing guide rail, which legally cannot be removed.

Planning commission members agreed Steve Shannon should be granted a waiver and not be required to build the entire sidewalk network the ordinance would otherwise mandate. But several commission and township staff members voiced concerns about the narrow strip of sidewalk that would be required.

The guide rail, they said, would make it difficult to maintain during winter snow, but more critically could force a pedestrian to step into the road if two or more were walking on the sidewalk at the same time.

Planning commission’s recommended that the developer evaluate work and cost needed for sidewalk along East College Avenue from Shiloh Road to the Decibel Road entry.

For the sidewalk alone, Toretti said, the College Avenue option would be easier but it was not clear what else would be required. The option could potentially necessitate replacements including pedestrian and traffic signal controls, a light pole and several trees.

Toretti said he would meet with PennDOT and township staff to evaluate the feasibility of the option before the subdivision comes before council, which is expected at its July 21 meeting.

Planning commission members said they appreciated that Steve Shannon came with a proposal for perimeter sidewalk connections rather than seeking a complete waiver, noting that as the township develops its sidewalk master plan, it is seeking to fill in gaps.

“It’s refreshing to see a presentation that starts to consider the owner contributing some sidewalk to the master plan,” planning commission member Robert Hoffman said. “Up to this point all the variance requests have given us no option and I applaud the owner and PennTerra for forging ahead and trying to develop a reasonable sidewalk plan… I appreciate the effort and the expense that you’re putting into your land development.”

“I think what you’re doing and asking is reasonable,” planning commission member Peggy Ekdahl added. “I definitely am for everybody that’s going in wherever contributes a little bit and nobody’s asking… not to do anything; they’re asking to do something. I think that will be really good for down the line and in the future.”