The Westminster Planning and Zoning Commission voted last night to limit the size of stores in neighborhood commercial zones to no more than 25,000 square feet each -- about the size of the Staples store in Cranberry Square.

Neighborhood commercial zones are aimed at drawing aesthetically pleasing village-style shops with concealed trash bins and pitched roofs.

Town Planner Katrina Tucker recommended a limit of 55,000 to 60,000 square feet.

Commission member C. Lawrence Wiskeman agreed, saying the centers would need large grocery stores as anchors.

"It's not a mall, and it's not a Cranberry Square," said commission member Dennis E. Frazier, who made the motion to limit the size to 25,000 square feet. "These will be put in residential neighborhoods and I think something larger is a lot to ask people to swallow."

A public hearing on the matter will be held in May before a recommendation is sent to the mayor and Common Council for a final vote.

Also last night, the commission approved preliminary plans for a Burger King restaurant at the College Square shopping center on Route 140.

The review of a planned High's convenience store at Railroad Avenue and Emerald Hill Lane, now the site of by a Texaco gas station, was deferred at the request of the developer.

Pub Date: 4/09/99