Residents who oppose plans for a massive warehouse
in Lower Nazareth
Township said they feel like it's déjà vu all over again.
More than 30 residents turned out Wednesday night to
oppose plans for the warehouse, which developers said would be built on 28
acres and have room for up to seven tenants. (John Best | lehighvalleylive.com
contributor)
Township supervisors held a conditional use hearing
Wednesday night for a 300,000-square-foot warehouse planned on 28 acres just
east of Route 33, between Hecktown and Newburg roads.
FGC Hecktown LLC, an affiliate of F. Greek Development,
is seeking approval for the building. Owner and developer Frank Greek said the
warehouse will be divided into seven suites that will be owned by his company
and leased to tenants.
Greek's proposal borders land to the west that was
approved in October 2014 for Industrial
Developments International to build an 822,500-square-foot warehouse.
"They keep coming," neighboring Val Vista Drive
resident George Cortelyou said. "Nobody is safe in this town."
They keep coming. Nobody is safe in this town."
Cortelyou was one of several people who hired attorneys
who unsuccessfully tried to stop approval of the IDI warehouse that was debated
over nine months in 10 hearings and often drew a crowd of 75 to 100 opponents.
Greek said his company's portfolio includes 120
buildings, many in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, for a total of 15
million square feet.
Tenants aren't lined up yet, but the two new warehouses
would be built in Chrin Commerce Park, near Tatamy.
Cortelyou and more than 30 others packed the Wednesday
meeting to ask the developer questions and tell township officials they object
to another warehouse near their homes.
Many were part of a petition taken in May with 500
signatures to stop Liberty Property Trust's attempt to construct two
warehouse-distribution buildings totaling 525,000 square feet on Nazareth Pike
(Route 191).
Supervisors
denied conditional use for those buildings in May, claiming more than
200 trucks going in and out of the facilities each weekday classified them as
truck terminals.
Under the township zoning ordinance, any building that
will serve an average of more than 100 trucks per weekday will be considered a
truck terminal, which is not allowed under conditional use in the
light-industrial zoning district.
Greek's plans claim there will 96 trucks per weekday,
which would be just under the limit.
Fidel Gonzalez, a project manager for Langan Engineering
and Environmental Services, testified Wednesday about Greek's development.
Gonzalez said plans include a berm that will run between
the warehouse and Val Vista Drive and any other residences that abut the
property. Engineers increased the proposed berm from 10-feet to 15-feet-tall,
in response to concerns raised by the township's planning commission.
In consideration for Val Vista Drive residents, all truck
loading docks will be on the opposite side of the building from the residences
and face the IDI property, according to Gonzalez.
Supervisors' Chairman James Pennington told Greek he is
concerned that the area is being overbuilt with warehouses and many residents
object to the Lehigh Valley becoming a "warehouse mecca."
"At some point you reach a saturation level,"
Pennington said.
Greek said with a large port in Newark and the
Northeast's dense population, there is still a growing need for warehouses in
the Lehigh Valley.
"As long as we don't lose population, as long as we
have importing needs, there will be a need for warehouses," he said.
Residents grilled Greek and his representatives for
nearly two hours and many complained that the warehouse will have a negative
effect.
Township solicitor Gary Asteak adjourned the hearing,
which will resume at 6:30 p.m. March 9 at the former municipal building at 306
Butztown Road in Lower Nazareth.
Source: Lehigh Valley Live
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