Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Cracker Barrel to try once more to build in Cranberry
By Karen Kane
November 25, 2007

Nearly six years after Cracker Barrel received a municipal approval that it never used to build in Cranberry, the company is about the begin the process again.

A Cranberry official confirmed last week that the firm is about ready to bring forward plans for a restaurant and gift shop along Route 19 at the border with Marshall.

"They're coming," said John Trant, Cranberry strategic planner.

Cracker Barrel had negotiated for two years with local developer Don Rodgers and was to be the first business to open along Route 228 in the strip that's now known locally as "restaurant row." Municipal approvals were in place in 2002.

But the plans never came to fruition for reasons unknown.

Now, the company is back at Cranberry's door with plans for the site that had been occupied by the Oak Leaf Motel on the east side of Route 19, and the company has secured the approval of the township's Building and Fire Codes Board of Appeals for oil lamps to be placed on the restaurant's tables.

The 8-acre site was recently purchased by Walnut Capital in Shadyside.

The land directly behind it, off Dutilh Road, had been sought for a Hooters restaurant, but although the franchise owners had won municipal approval in 2005, they abandoned those plans.

Mr. Trant said he expected to see a formal application soon and construction of Cracker Barrel to begin in the spring.

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