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8 | theburgnews.com | 02.19 autozone veto oveRtuRneD Harrisburg City Council last month rejected the wishes of the city's mayor, unanimously overturning a veto that will allow an auto parts store to proceed with plans to locate in Harrisburg. By a vote of 7-0, council affirmed its December vote to let AutoZone, a Memphis-based car parts store, advance in the city planning process as it seeks to build a store at N. 7th and Maclay streets. eir vote vacated several unused "paper streets" on the lot owned by Susquehanna Township-based Vartan Group, which wants to sell the property to AutoZone. Mayor Eric Papenfuse vetoed the measure, arguing that the city could use its discretion in approving street vacations to ask developers to abide by community standards, including the creation of affordable housing and job opportunities for minority and women laborers. For example, council could withhold approval for a street vacation until a developer agrees to set aside affordable units in a housing project or employ local laborers—particularly minorities—on job sites. "I think there is an opportunity for City Council to establish a review criteria for street vacations linked to the land development process that will help the city achieve some of its goals with regard to contracting and affordable housing," Papenfuse said. Council members, though, bristled at what they said was a new rationale for controlling a development project. "e mayor has not sent down any legislation to address affordable housing or [minority business] participation," Councilwoman Shamaine Daniels said. "So, I really I find this administration's position just to be really artifice and not anything of much substance." kline plaza sells Harrisburg's Kline Plaza has sold to a New York-based realty company, which hopes to bring new life to the aging shopping center. Nassimi Realty LLC, based in Manhattan, bought the mid- 20th century, low-slung retail and office complex for $8.7 million on Dec. 24, according to Dauphin County property records. Kevin Nassimi, vice president of leasing, said that the family- run company was interested in the property because "this is what we do." "e agent for the seller brought us the opportunity, and it made sense for us," he said. e company specializes in multi-unit retail and currently owns 25 million square feet of shopping center space in the eastern United States, including four other properties in Pennsylvania, Nassimi said. Kline Village, located near the city line with Penbrook, is anchored by Giant Food, which recently signed a 10-year lease extension, and includes a Fine Wine and Good Spirits store, a Rent-a-Center and a Family Dollar, in addition to several other stores, a gas station and a state Department of Health walk-in location. Nassimi purchased the property for about half the price of the last sale. According to Dauphin County, KOP Kline Plaza LLC, another New York-based realty investment group, bought the complex for $17.3 million in 2004. Kevin Nassimi attributed the much lower sales price to 10 current vacancies in the 240,000-square-foot complex, including two office tenants that recently left. "at's a big hit financially," he said. "at's a tall task." BuDGet Dispute ResolveD Harrisburg City Council and the administration agreed to resolve a 2019 budget dispute without changing the original spending plan. e approved $70.8 million municipal budget contained flat spending compared to the prior year and no tax increases. After a one-week delay, council members did not amend the mayor's proposed budget, but they did attach two conditions to their approval. First, the mayor must provide written justification for awarding salary increases greater than 5 percent, and, secondly, must provide council with quarterly reports of unused salary funds. Council also amended the 2019 budget to re-institute the director of community and economic development position, a role that was omitted from the city's organizational chart as part of Mayor Eric Papenfuse's proposed reorganization of city departments. e amendment does not carry any new funding, so the city's 2019 spending plan is unchanged. Councilman Ben Allatt said that the council will seek grants in the new year to pay the salary for a new director. As always, the city's largest operating expenditure in 2019 — $32.7 million — will be for personnel. Debt service and healthcare will eat up $9.8 million and $11 million from the operating budget, respectively. e budget also allocates $6.8 million in capital improvement spending. Even though personnel expenses increased by $500,000 from 2018, Papenfuse said a priority for the 2019 budget is to maintain Harrisburg's current staff capacity, which his administration has rebuilt after years of austerity. Rather than add new personnel in 2019, the mayor proposed reorganizing the city's departments to more closely align with the city council committee structure. e city's new organizational chart creates seven city departments to correspond with the seven council committees. e chart dissolves the Department of Community of Economic Development and replaces it with the Department of Engineering and Development. commissioneRs seek Re-election Long-time incumbents Jeff Haste, Mike Pries and George Hartwick last month announced their intention to run for re-election for four-year terms as Dauphin County commissioners. Republicans Haste and Pries have served on the three- member board since 2002 and 2010, respectively. Hartwick, a Democrat, was first elected in 2003. In their re-election announcements, all three incumbents cited 14 years without a county property tax increase as a significant accomplishment. Diane Bowman, a former Susquehanna Township commissioner, will join Hartwick as his running mate on the Democratic side. is year, the primary election is slated for May 21, with the general election on Nov. 5. Barley Snyder last month announced that attorney Sarah C. Yerger had joined its Harrisburg office as part of the law firm's employment practice group. Yerger worked for more than 13 years in the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, moving to the private sector in 2013. Elementary Coffee Co. announced last month plans to open a new roastery and coffee shop at 256 North St., Harrisburg. Owner Andrea Grove said that she expects to open this spring inside the newly renovated building, but will retain her stand in the Broad Street Market. Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC boards of directors last month named Barb Bowker of PSECU as chair of the chamber and Jeannine Peterson of Hamilton Health Center as chair of CREDC for 2019. Other Chamber officers for 2019 include Tom Sposito of S&T Bank, Merone Yemane of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Greg Gunn of Gunn-Mowery, Karen Gunnison of Capital Blue Cross and Zachary Khuri of First National Bank. Other CREDC officers for 2019 include Ben Dunlap of Nauman Smith, Mayur Patel of Laughner Patel Developers, Mike Funck of Wohlsen Construction, Casey Khuri of NAI CIR and Wade Becker of RKL. PSECU last month named George Rudolph as its new president. Rudolph will join PSECU in April to succeed the retiring Greg Smith, who has served as PSECU's president for the past 28 years. S&T Bank last month promoted Jordan Space to executive vice president, market president for the central Pennsylvania region. Space, who joined S&T in 2015, also was recently appointed to the Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health's board of trustees. In addition, he is a member of the Lancaster City Alliance executive leadership team. UPMC Pinnacle plans to add several floors to its West Shore Hospital in Hampden Township to accommodate the growing needs of area residents. Plans call for adding floors above the emergency department to provide 58 more beds. e Ortenzio Cancer Center at UPMC Pinnacle is also expanding its cancer programs to include infusion treatment for thoracic, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, head and neck and other cancers. Urban Churn announced last month that it would open an ice cream production and retail space at 1004 N. 3rd St. in Harrisburg. Owner Adam Brackbill expects the craft creamery and scoop shop to open in early spring. Urban Churn also has a stand inside the Broad Street Market, which Brackbill plans to retain. so noteD news

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