LANCASTER TWP — The board of supervisors unanimously gave permission Monday to expand the footprint of Butler Equipment Rental Options, a heavy-machinery rental service on Route 19.

MHB Real Estate Holdings, which owns the land currently occupied by the rental company, as well as the land into which it will expand, sought permission to run the service on more than an additional 2.5 acres between Route 19 and Middle Lane.

Lancaster previously gave the business its approval in a prior conditional use application, but the expansion deemed it necessary to revisit the topic. The expansion includes a vacant lot, the former site of the Children's Enrichment Center and land on the opposite side of Scholars Run.

In addition to the more than 2.5 acre addition, the expansion will also include an enclosed wash building. For the previous conditional use application, the rental service included a lean-to structure to wash down returned equipment.

In its revised application, Butler Equipment will erect an enclosed structure instead of a lean-to for washing down equipment.

“It was always the township's desire that (the area to wash returned equipment) was to be enclosed,” explained township manager Benjamin Kramer. “However, that was not how MHB Real Estate Holdings had previously submitted their plan. That has changed.

Eric Dougherty, an engineer with Beran Environmental Services, said the new building proposed by the business will be significantly higher than the floodplain. Given that, he said there should not be any concerns over any role the structure would play in future flood events.