North Franklin Township Supervisors held a public hearing on a proposed zoning change regarding the Washington Crown Center Mall. The change would allow a zoning overlay of light industrial to the current commercial zoning for the mall. That would open the mall to more than two dozen other permitted and conditional uses. The reason for the change was brought about by Provider Real Estate Partners who are interested in purchasing the mall and redeveloping it into a mixed-use facility. According to Chris Salata, partner with PREP the zoning would allow such uses as office space, research and development and light industrial work. The developers wanted all light industrial uses to be permitted. Supervisors disagreed on some of those permitted uses. Supervisors held up a vote on approval of the zoning change until the ordinance is redrafted to keep trucking facilities and terminals as conditional use and any personal storage space development at the mall limited to no more than 150,000 square feet. According to Salata, the project size is in the neighborhood of 500,000 square feet and development costs will be in the range of $35 million. Salata says that once approval is obtained, closing could occur in 90-120 days. A special meeting to adopt the ordinance with its changes is scheduled for June 25 at 5:00 pm.