A credit union that moved into the Carbon Plaza Mall several years ago is looking to make another move to a now vacant property near Blakeslee Boulevard in Mahoning Township.

On Tuesday, the Carbon County Planning Commission reviewed a plan for First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union, but did not make any recommendation on whether the plan should be approved by Mahoning Township.

According to the review, the credit union would be moved from inside the Carbon Plaza Mall to the former Country Harmony Natural Foods location at 1235 Blakeslee Boulevard Drive East. The store closed in April.

Ivan O. Meixell, county planner, said that the plans call for demolishing the existing building, adding that this is the second building in that stretch that will come down to rebuild a new structure. Work on a stand-alone Starbucks has begun and will be located right next to the credit union at the entrance of Carbon Plaza Mall.

A single-story, 2,614-square-foot commercial building that would house the credit union is proposed at the location. It would include drive-through aisles, a total of 18 parking spaces and would use the revised entrance from Route 443 to a new connection to the mall.

A lot line revision was needed as part of the plans to provide enough acreage to meet township lot size requirements.

However, there were several items Meixell pointed out to the commission that the developer needs to address before the project could move forward, including easements, erosion and sediment pollution control plans, a development agreement, and further reviews from various agencies.

The planning commission will now send its comments on the proposed project to Mahoning Township, the township engineer and applicant for further discussion prior to any recommendation being made.

This is the second time in less than a decade that First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union customers will see their bank’s location change.

The Lehigh Valley-based credit union moved the branch from South Seventh Street, Lehighton, into the Carbon Plaza Mall in 2018, with a smaller site, but more interactivity with employees. It also included constructing a drive-up interactive transaction machine in the mall parking lot for after-hours transactions.