LIMERICK PA – With now only eight days to go until the Aug. 17 grand opening of its new store in the Gateway At Sanatoga shopping center, Costco Warehouse Corp. is sending a final development-related check to Limerick (PA) Township as a sort of thank-you gift for allowing it to do business at the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422.

The southeast corner of Costco's building

The Limerick Board of Supervisors learned last week (Aug. 2) that Costco, whose sprawling membership-only wholesale operation is located on West Lightcap Road near the townships’ shared border, was prepared to send it a fourth and final check in the amount of $250,000. Its receipt would bring to $1 million the total Costco has paid to Limerick in donated impact fees, Solicitor Joseph McGrory confirmed.

Upon hearing the news, supervisors unanimously approved McGrory’s suggestion that a covenant, an agreement regarding the fees that Limerick imposed on Costco’s property deed during the project’s planning stages, be removed.

Costco’s donation is meant to offset costs Limerick expects to incur as a result of its commercial growth. The township anticipates added expenses for police responses to Gateway, and having officers spend more time on the adjacent highways and interchange to address traffic tie-ups and fender-benders.

Some of that heavier traffic inevitably will spill over onto the roads of Limerick’s municipal neighbor, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, although to a lesser extent.

Although no Costco impact fees have been donated to Lower Pottsgrove, its commissioners say their township will benefit nonetheless from its cooperative agreement with Limerick, under which both municipalities are working to coordinate highway use and expansion, cross-border land development and zoning, public transit and pedestrian routes, and other issues.

Opening day at Costco starts at 8 a.m., when early-bird shoppers and gawkers are expected to arrive in droves. That likely will be followed by heavy evening traffic before and after dinner times, as families travel to check out the store too.

Related (to the Gateway At Sanatoga project):

• Costco’s Last, Big Check To Limerick; It’s In The Mail
• Limerick Costco’s Tentative Opening Planned For Aug. 17
• Costco Open By Aug. 28 (Maybe); Surest Sign: Hiring Now
• Buying Spree: Gimme A Steak, Those Shoes, That TV
• Structural Steel On Its Way Up At Limerick Costco Site
• Costco Construction Still Aiming For A Spring Opening
• Contractor Agrees To End Night Work At Sanatoga Gateway
• Sanatoga Gateway’s Overnight Noise Near An End
• Beep!-Beep!, No Sleep For Residents Near Gateway Site
• Pipeline Being Moved At Sanatoga Gateway
• What Gateway At Sanatoga Marketing Says About Us
• Before Demise, Limerick Homes Get Firefighters’ Farewell
• Ground Clearing Begins At Sanatoga “Gateway”
• Developer Sets New Costco Date: Spring 2011
• New Activity Stirs For Gateway At Sanatoga Project
• Costco Approved Without Traffic Improvements (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Gateway Endorsed By Limerick Planners (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Project Faces Limerick Zoning Decisions
• Sanatoga Shopping Project On Limerick Zoning Agenda
• More Web Searches Seek ‘Sanatoga Springs’
• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Sanatoga Springs Promotion In Flux
• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

Related (to the Limerick Board of Supervisors’ meeting of Aug. 2):

• Costco’s Last, Big Check To Limerick; It’s In The Mail