A proposed 930,000-square-foot warehouse in Maidencreek Township drew opposition from residents living nearby who worried the warehouse would worsen traffic and noise, decrease home values and impact quality of life in the area.
About 50 residents attended a special planning commission meeting last week at Andrew Maier Elementary School to accommodate the turnout.
At the meeting, project engineer Cornelius Brown of Bohler Engineering, Philadelphia, described plans for a warehouse on 81 acres northwest of the intersection of Route 222, which is Allentown Pike, and Schaeffer Road.
The 60-foot-high fulfillment center will have 212 loading bays, 211 trailer parking spaces, 135 trailer storage parking spaces and 1,073 car parking spaces.
Two points of access will be along Route 222: a full-access driveway to the east and a pair of right turn only lanes to the west.
The site will use public water and sewer, Brown said.
Developer Maiden Creek Associates owns the property, according to Gregg Adelman, who represented developers at the meeting.
Adelman said a tenant for the warehouse hasn’t been determined yet.
The warehouse will generate 214 additional truck trips daily, including 19 trucks during morning peak hours and nine at afternoon peak hours, according to project traffic engineer Chris Williams of McMahon Associates, Chester County.
Public comment
In an occasionally heated public comment session, residents voiced concerns over the effects of adding truck traffic to a dangerously busy strip of Route 222.
“There are so many cars that do not yield (at the roundabouts), I don’t know how many times I almost got hit,” said Timothy Thieme. “Adding these tractor-trailers to the circle will make it more dangerous than it already is.”
Several residents also said the amount of truck traffic predicted by developers doesn’t match with the number of loading docks the warehouse will contain.
“The math just doesn’t make any sense for the size of the facility,” resident Cliff Panneton said. “I could understand 214 (trucks) per hour, but not per day.”
Williams said the traffic estimates were calculated by looking at traffic output from facilities of a similar size and function.
“At this point, the traffic estimates have not been questioned by the township’s consultant or PennDOT,” Williams said.
He said the reason the number of loading bays appears to outstrip daily traffic is because trucks can remain at the warehouse for an extended time while loading and unloading.
Other residents took aim at the developers’ motives for building a large warehouse next to a densely populated residential area.
Charles Voorhies said he’s been involved in various large construction projects in residential areas.
“Every single (project) I hear this, ‘Everything’s fine, you’ve got all your testing done,’ and then guess what? You make money, and the community suffers,” Voorhies told developers. “I moved to this community to get away from that.”
Kamille Warkala asked why developers chose to build their warehouse in Maidencreek.
“Why are you doing this to us?” Warkala asked. “We gain nothing as residents. I gain nothing but the loss of my property value. You don’t even live near a warehouse yourself, do you? Do you care about what happens to the residents or is it just about making money?”
Adelman said developers were at the meeting to deal with questions related to the project, not to answer personal attacks.
“We are happy to work with the community … when people say, ‘Hey, the landscaping, maybe there’s more you can do,’ that’s what we do,” Adelman said.
Warkala asked Adelman again why developers chose the area.
“Because this use is permitted by law, my client has rights, those rights are protected by the same constitution that protects your rights,” Adelman said. “That’s why we’re here, we’re allowed to put this here.”
Residents also questioned how building a large warehouse aligned with township conditional use standards, which state new construction must be compatible with building sizes and heights in the neighborhood and shouldn’t harm the character of the neighborhood.
Additional questions dealt with the warehouse’s effect on noise levels in the area, the impact of truck runoff, refrigeration chemicals and other warehouse byproducts impact on air and water quality, and the impact of the project on wildlife in the area.
Adelman said the project will comply with all state and local environmental and noise standards.
Township manager Hunter Ahrens noted that Maidencreek is exploring putting in place a rule banning the use of brake retarders — also know as jake brakes — along Allentown Pike to lower noise levels.
The meeting was for Maidencreek planners to decide whether to recommend that township supervisors approve or deny the use of the property as laid out in the warehouse plans.
Planning commission members issued no recommendation and gave little comment on the project, other than to say their decision will come at their next meeting Nov. 2.
The supervisor’s meeting where action on the conditional use could be taken is Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Fleetwood High School auditorium.
Supervisors are not bound to act in line with the planning commission’s recommendation.
If developers do secure conditional use approval, they will still need to have land development plans approved by the township.
Adelman said it was too early in the development process to estimate when construction on the warehouse could start.
Source: Berkshire mont