by Kate Shunney
A four-space retail building planned for the lot next to the Berkeley Springs DMV has been approved by the Morgan County Planning Commission, contingent on the developer securing a final NPDES (stormwater management) permit for the site.
The anchor business for that retail project is a Dunkin Donuts with a drive-thru, according to plans.
Morgan County Planner Alex Moore confirmed late last week that no building permit will be issued to owners Panhandle Homes of Berkeley County, Inc. until a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is issued for the building site, just east of the DMV.
The Planning Commission did grant Panhandle Homes a contingent approval in April for their project.
Planning documents identify the contract purchaser of the development project as Giga Properties, Inc. of Hagerstown.
Panhandle Homes of Berkeley County, Inc. was the developer of the Berkeley Springs DMV project in the same area off Cavendish Drive. They built and lease the DMV building to the West Virginia Department of Transportation for that state facility.
Panhandle Homes is also the owner of the property on the north side of Cavendish Drive where a new Rutter’s gas station and store will be built. County planners approved that final commercial building permit at their June 25 meeting.
According to site plans at the Morgan County Planning Office, Panhandle Homes or a contractor will construct a 9,000-sq. ft. (120’ by 75’) building on the next lot to the east of the DMV. On the north side of the building, the front retail space will hold a vape shop. There are two more retail spaces to the south, and the southern end unit of the building will hold a Dunkin Donuts with a drive-thru ordering and pickup area.
Site plans say there will be 50 parking spaces on the north and east edges of the 1.18-acre property to serve the four retail spaces. Two of those spaces will be handicapped parking spaces, the plans say.
Traffic signs will direct customers in a one-way pattern because of the drive-thru, the plans indicate.
Five lighting poles are shown on the site map, primarily on the north and east sides of the lot.
Stormwater discharge from the new building and parking lot – water runoff from a new roof and pavement — are the subject of the NPDES permit that is the final piece of the approval process before a building permit can be issued by Morgan County for the project.
