EMPORIUM — Members of the Potter County Planning Commission recently received word of the proposed construction of a retail store location in Coudersport Borough.
The plan for a Dollar General Plus to be located along U.S. Route 6 on the western end of Coudersport was submitted by local landowner Tom Majot. The project is proposed for most of a city block that borders the beautiful Coudersport Arboretum, borough offices and police station. Majot would own the building and lot, and would lease to Dollar General.
The block is currently residential, and a number of houses will have to be cleared in order to make way for the building, expected to encompass 12,480-square-feet with an additional two parking lots and landscaped area.
Four houses would remain on the block, and privacy fencing has been proposed as a buffer between the residential and commercially-zoned areas.
The proposed location is on the block bordered by Route 6, known as Chestnut Street in that section of town, Vine Street, Maple Street and South West Street.
Potter County Planning Commission director Charlotte Dietrich said the commission has not made any decisions at this point, and is currently waiting on a more detailed plan and an application before further consideration.
“We have been presented nothing yet beyond the sketch plan we received this past week, and we don’t expect anything additionally for at least a few weeks,” Dietrich said. “The sketch was presented and we said we would look at it once we received more detailed information.”
Dollar General Plus stores stock the traditional items found at other Dollar General locations, but typically have additional coolers and freezers, enabling them to carry more groceries and perishables, and would likely have an expanded inventory, as well.
A regular-sized Dollar Store already operates in Coudersport, located approximately a mile further west on Route 6. The corporation has plans to add a number of new stores within the United States in the next few years, and plans to upgrade or remodel many of their current locations. Dollar General operates more than 10,000 stores in 40 states, employing 90,000 people in the U.S.
Dietrich said a vote will not be taken until at least next month’s meeting, and she expects more information to be provided to the planning commission within the next month.
