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By DONNA THOMAS donnat@leader.net
 Wednesday, December 13, 2000 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





Wal-Mart or not? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That's the question in Dallas Township, where rumors and rumor mongers have
been stirred by a rezoning application from the owner of 49 acres near the
intersection of Routes 118 and 415. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Township officials received an application asking for rezoning of vacant
farmland to general business use, citing the reason as ``major land
development, possibly a Wal-Mart or strip mall.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Joseph Naparlo, owner of the land, denied Tuesday any possible deal with
Wal-Mart or any other large retailer. He said his engineer, Ben Sevenski, of
Pasonick Engineering of Wilkes-Barre, filled out the petition and he signed it
without reading it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I can guarantee it's not Wal-Mart. I really, really don't have any plans
for the land right now,'' Naparlo said from his Virginia home. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But, Sevenski, in a later conversation, said there have been discussions
with Wal-Mart officials since 1998 about the property. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``We've been soliciting them, but there is no guarantee,'' Sevenski said.
``We have to develop a site plan and development drawings, and if they felt it
was a good financial investment for them, then they would commit.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Keith Morris, spokesman for Wal-Mart's real estate development department,
said he could neither confirm nor deny any dialogue between his company and a
developer in the Dallas area. He did say WalMart has no formal plans to locate
in the Dallas area. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dallas Township supervisors will consider the rezoning request at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday. About one-third of the land is zoned for some kind of business use,
while two-thirds is designated as agricultural. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Naparlo wants the entire block of land rezoned as a B-4 ``general business
district,'' which would allow him to develop the land as a strip mall. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Residents of Dallas Township have been calling Naparlo and zoning officer
Leonard Kozick on the issue, as rumors continue to circulate. About 20
residents received a copy of the application that includes the Wal-Mart
reference and a notice of next week's meeting on the issue. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``We're going to find out Tuesday,'' Kozick said. ``Everybody wants to know
what is going in there.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Naparlo, a Plymouth native who lives in Virginia, said friends and
neighbors have called him asking about Wal-Mart and even sent him news of
Wal-Mart officials looking for property. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Naparlo, who has built a successful restaurant business in Virginia, paid
$1.5 million for the former Yalick family farmland in 1998. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Donna Thomas, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7222. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Zoning Request Prompts Wal-mart Rumors In Dallas Twp. Officials Will Meet Tuesday To Consider Rezoning The Land For General Business Use.