The Cumru Township Board of Commissioners narrowly voted down a proposal to hire consultants to help build a strategy for economic development in the township.
At a meeting Tuesday, Commissioners David Batdorf, William Miller and Lisha Rowe voted against the proposal, while Greg Miller and Andy Donnell voted in favor.
Greg Miller said he and Donnell have been working with consulting group Community Networking Resources, Harrisburg, since January to put together a proposal for board approval.
“This proposal was to work toward creating a strategic plan for economic development that would have presented an alternative to warehouses, while growing our tax base significantly enough over time that we could eventually consider a tax reduction,” Greg Miller said.
Community Networking Resources is a subsidiary of McNees Strategic Solutions Group, a full-service government affairs, grassroots advocacy, and nonprofit consulting group.
The proposal, presented Tuesday, highlighted several key goals for future development, including building out water infrastructure along the Route 222 corridor, attracting commercial developers, and improving recreation areas like the Montrose Manor Playground.
Township manager Jeanne Johnston noted that large portions of Route 222, also known as Lancaster Pike, in the township do not contain a public water main, leaving some commercial properties to tap domestic lines for their water.
“The same size water line that you would use in your home comes all the way over the hill to service (Schaylor Brewing Company),” Johnston said. “The brewery will never be able to develop like a place you would see in Philly, because there’s not enough water…As far as economic development of the Route 222 corridor goes, water would be a key element.”
Part of Community Networking Resources’ strategy would involve targeting state and federal community grants to fund the infrastructure improvements needed for development and coordinating with developers seeking to build in Cumru, according to Michael Musser, president of Community Networking Resources.
Hiring the firm would have cost the township $144,000 annually with a one-year minimum contract.
“We didn’t view the proposal as an expense, but as an investment that would have generated a significant return to the township,” Greg Miller said.
Donnell and Greg Miller were elected in November on a platform of combatting warehouse development in the township, including plans for a 739,000 square-foot warehouse next to the Flying Hills community.
Those plans are on hold due to an ongoing case in county court on the legality of a zoning change that enabled the warehouse plans.
Some officials skeptical
Commissioner David Batdorf appeared skeptical of the proposal, questioning the consultants’ credentials and the company’s ability to bring in developers.
“Do any of these people have a background in real estate development or work for a real estate developer,” Batdorf asked. “Do any of these people have a degree in government or public administration from any major university?”
Musser said that over the past two years, his company has worked with developers on about 60 projects across the state, including residential, commercial, and industrial projects.
“(Major developers) solicit us,” Musser noted.
Batdorf and William Miller in the past have voted in support of warehouses as a source of tax revenue for the township.
William Miller previously said that township officials have tried and been unable to attract commercial development, leaving warehouses as the most viable option to bring in the revenue needed to offset increasing expenses and the loss of $500,000 in revenue from the closure of the Western Berks Landfill, which is slated to shut down in July.
“The largest parcel (along Lancaster Pike in the township) is the old (Two Guys Department Store) building,” Batdorf said. “The gentleman who owns the old Two Guys store tried to get Wegmans and they turned him down.”
Batdorf said the $144,000 price tag was too expensive for what Greg Miller and Donnell were suggesting.
“You’re fighting the (warehouse) developer we have now, and now you’re talking about spending more money to try and find others,” Batdorf said to Donnell and Greg Miller.
A few residents echoed Batdorf’s skepticism, claiming that the costs of the consulting contract and developing the Route 222 infrastructure outweigh the potential for revenue from future commercial development.
Greg Miller said he was disappointed with how the vote turned out.
“We now lack a plan on how to move forward,” Greg Miller said. “The proposed warehouses, should they be allowed to proceed, will not generate sufficient revenue annually to offset the significant increase in expenses the township has incurred over the last several years.”
The proposed warehouse near Flying Hills is expected to generate $237,000 annually for the township once its 10-year LERTA tax abatement expires.
Planning commission to review zoning change
Also at the meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 to have the township planning commission review a proposed zoning amendment that would change the zoning of the land proposed for the Flying Hills warehouse from industrial to medium-density residential.
One of the parcels proposed for rezoning, an 11-acre tract owned by Berkshire Greens Inc., developer and property manager of the Flying Hills Community, is being considered by that company for a new apartment complex, noted Batdorf.
He noted that that land is separate from the area at Freemansville Road and Route 10, where the proposed warehouse would be located.
Batdorf said he might be in favor of rezoning that lot but said he would be against changing the zoning on the warehouse tracts.
He said he would rather wait for the outcome of the ongoing legal challenge of the land’s 2018 rezoning to industrial.
That case is proceeding in the county Court of Common Pleas under Montgomery County Judge Cheryl A. Austin, after eleven Berks County judges recused themselves.
Source: Berkshire mont
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