Construction of Purcellville’s new Harris Teeter grocery store, to be located on the former Cole Farm property at the intersection of Route 287 and Route 7 is scheduled to begin in late summer/early fall, said Roadside Development project manager Kevin Bednoski. The mixed-use project will include a small office building and 10 to 15 other retailers, he said. The site’s design will incorporate the original barn and silo currently located on the property. The project will take about 15 months to complete.

Good news for do-it-yourselfers: Habitat for Humanity will open a 15,000-square-foot Habitat ReStore in the Loudoun Valley Shopping Center on Main Street on April 18. Similar to the nonprofit’s other ReStores in Winchester and Manassas, the Purcellville center will accept donated building supplies and materials from homeowners, contractors and stores like Home Depot, Sears and Lowes, and will then offer them to the public at deep discounts. Sale proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity projects in Loudoun.

And in government news, Purcellville’s Town Council placed nearly 1,300 acres surrounding the town’s reservoir into a conservation easement. This easement ensures that this property may never be sold nor developed. Purcellville Mayor Bob Lazaro claims it’s the largest conservation easement in Loudoun, and as far as he knows, the first time a Loudoun municipality has taken on such an endeavor.

In other “green” news, Purcellville has teamed up with Dominion Power to introduce an LED street light pilot program. The 10 street lamps illuminating South 20th Street will be outfitted with new LED lights that are energy-efficient and, in the long run, more cost-effective than traditional bulbs. The LED lights, Lazaro said, last up to 25 to 30 years and will be automatically adjusted to emit more light when it is dark and to dim during dawn and dusk hours. The lights also conform to Purcellville’s dark-sky ordinance that limits bright lighting.

And what’s up with the Purcellville Taco Bell? The fast-food eatery wants to locate the restaurant in town on the corner of Hirst Road and Hatcher Avenue. Although many residents are looking forward to making a “run for the border,” some aren’t so sure the proposed location would be good for traffic and/or the town’s quaint character.

George Dahlman wrote a front-page opinion in the March 13 Blue Ridge Leader likening the fast-food approval to the scene in Frank Capra “It’s a Wonderful Life” when George Bailey returns to Bedford Falls only to discover it’s been turned into Potterville.

“If – as expected - the Purcellville Town Council approves a special exemption for a drive-thru restaurant at the corner of Hirst and Hatcher, our beloved home town may be headed for a similar fate,” Dahlman writes.

An anti-Taco Bell petition has been created online and currently has more than 130 signatures. The Town Council is expected to vote on the Taco Bell measure April 14.