Backyard news, 10.14.08

* Below are headlines from tonight’s combined workshop meeting of the Lower Paxton board of supervisors and planning commission. Additional meeting notes will be posted later this week.

– Supervisors give OK for planning to proceed on a proposed business improvement district for the Route 22 corridor between Colonial Park Mall and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet. Linglestown and Paxtonia are not part of the mix at this time.

– Diocese of Harrisburg outlines plans for a new high school campus at the intersection of Spring Creek and Page roads. School officials propose closing the section of Spring Creek Road that borders the campus.

– McNaughton Homes nears agreement with residents on the layout of a 91-unit luxury housing development on the slopes of Blue Mountain. Citizen watchdog group SWAN chairman Eric Epstein and LP board of supervisors chairman Bill Hawk have played a key role in negotiations with McNaughton.

* Beware of a possible scam at gasoline pumps. According to a Gazette reader, a middle-aged woman with a maroon-colored car has approached multiple motorists for a monetary handout because she had just run out of gas. At least one of the incidents took place at the Sheetz store on Linglestown Road.

* In news from just beyond our backyard, East Hanover Twp. residents have sued township officials over a zoning approval that clears the way for planning to proceed for a new shopping center near the intersection of Routes 39 and 22.