Center sees road as key
CENTER TWP — Township officials are moving forward with plans for a proposed economic overlay district around the new VA Butler Healthcare Center being built on North Duffy Road.
They now hope the state Department of Transportation can lend a hand to help spur desired business development in that zone.
The proposed district will encompass private properties surrounding the VA facility and would permit the construction of medical and professional buildings, such as hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, specialized living facilities, business offices and government offices.
“This is a real economic opportunity for Center Township and the whole Butler area,” township engineer Ron Olsen to the township supervisors at their Wednesday meeting.
Olsen said PennDOT can help make the township's wish a reality.
PennDOT is reviewing possible improvements to the unfinished cloverleaf at the intersection of Routes 356 and 422 in Butler Township to create a bypass around the deficient bridge carrying Lions Road over Route 422.
Olsen said the state has a number of proposals it is exploring, some of which would extend a northern exit of the cloverleaf to either Lions Road or Benbrook Road.
Olsen said the township hopes the state can put a roundabout in that northern extension of the cloverleaf that would have a new road connecting to North Duffy near the VA.
“That really would make the properties there desirable for an office park development,” he said.
That new road would pass through the proposed economic district, which Olsen said also could be a tax increment financing district.
The so-called TIF district would take real estate revenues from properties and use the money to pay for infrastructure improvements, including sewage and electricity.
“There will be sewer service to the VA, but to develop the other 150 or so acres would require improvements to the sanitary sewer service,” Olsen said.The TIF district could include the new VA center and it's projected $460,000 in annual real estate revenue.That money, which normally would go to the three taxing bodies — the township, Butler County, and the Butler School District — instead would go to pay for infrastructure improvements if the VA center is part of the TIF.Olsen said the township does not have the money available to make the needed improvements in the TIF district.Township solicitor Michael Gallagher said the tax revenue from the VA center could kick-start development around the VA.He said then future taxes from properties in the district would go to pay off the TIF loan, which can span more than two decades.“If the concept works, you've used tax money to pay for the future,” he said.Olsen said the development area could fit five VA-sized projects and could one day contribute a great deal of jobs and real estate taxes.“If we delay the initial gratification of the taxes from the VA center, there could be a whole lot more coming in down the road,” he said.Olsen said the township will meet soon with the other taxing bodies to discuss the proposal. The township also hopes to work with Butler Township since the cloverleaf is in that township.Center Township's proposed ordinance for the economic overlay district mirrors Butler Township's “I” Institutional overlay district, Olsen said.The properties that officials are interested in including in the economic district are between North Duffy and Lions roads. They are owned by the Herold, Young, Bocci and Whitmire families, according to township records.
