Conditional approval for a land development plan sparked a heated debate at the Franklin Township supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday evening.

Paul Sandhu of Rockland Energy Land Development, along with attorney Robert Frycklund and Brian Garda of Lehigh Engineering, appeared at the meeting seeking conditional approval for a land development plan focused on Sandhu’s gas station located between Route 209 and Court Street.

Sandhu plans to revamp the property with the installation of a new convenience store.

Allen Rohlfing showed up to contest the plan on behalf of his son, Kyle Hartman, whose property borders Sandhu’s property.

The area of contention is a private roadway running behind the gas station that, according to Rohlfing, is unquestionably part of Hartman’s land.

“I have the deeds all the way back to the 1920s that show that we own it,” Rohlfing said. “And somewhere along the line there was a lease signed when they built 209, and our deed dropped the paragraph out that showed that we owned it.”

Rohlfing said that he had previously attended zoning and planning meetings to oppose the plans, yet he only received attention at Tuesday night’s meeting when he presented copies of the deeds.

In addition to land ownership issues, Rohlfing argued that there are various rights of ways to consider.

“There’s all kinds of right of ways on that property,” Rohlfing said. “There’s a water main from the 1950s that goes through there, so there’s a water authority right. There’s a state right to the new retaining wall that they built there. There’s a main telephone line that goes through the property. PPL has a right. He can’t build what he wants to build in that small of a space.”

According to Garda, the plans had been evaluated and approved by county authorities, without any question of property border issues.

“We have a clean letter from Carbon Engineering, we have a clean letter from the Carbon County Planning Commission, and as far as I’m concerned with this item that Mr. Hartman brought up, we have a survey we are certifying and signing. If Mr. Hartman wants to challenge that, he’s more than welcome to challenge that. This is, what we believe, to the best of our knowledge, in our professional opinion to be the property lines,” Garda said.

Frycklund said that Hartman and Rohlfing were free to pursue civil action, though it should not hinder the approval of the plans with the township.

“To the extent of the boundary line dispute, that’s a civil matter for the Court of Common Pleas, and Mr. Hartman is welcome to bring that, but that’s not within the purview of this board,” he said.

Chairman Jason Frey originally requested additional conditions to be added to the approval, including the payment of any unpaid fees, proof of ownership for the land as determined by the township solicitor, and a traffic study concerning Court Street and the entrance into the proposed convenience store.

The original conditional approval passed on a 2-1 vote, with Frey opposing the motion. Frycklund volunteered to include a payment of outstanding fees condition.

“I think it’s important that businesses don’t come in and take people’s property. Now, if they want to buy it, or get permission from them to use it or rent it from them, OK. It was a concern of mine, as well as the traffic intersection there. I know it falls under PennDOT, but I just want to do my due diligence for the township,” Frey said. “I’m just trying to get to the truth.”

Supervisor Barbara Beltz said that the necessary steps had been taken by Sandhu and his team, and that any delays on the part of the township would simply result in needless expenditures.

“I just didn’t feel comfortable with the way things were going. They went through everyone that they needed to in order to get approval. I want to see businesses flourish in our township. I feel that it will bring revenue into our township. To me, that’s a civil matter,” she said in regard to the property ownership issue.

Rohlfing said that he is planning on continuing to pursue his interest in court, if need be.

“We’re going to try. He’s a wealthy guy. He has a ton of money behind him. He has all these lawyers and engineers, and he just comes in here and tells them what he wants them to say, like trained monkeys. It’s going to fall back on the engineer, because he didn’t do his research to find that we own that property,” Rohlfing said.