Lower Nazareth Township planners give nod to longstanding warehouse proposal

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

The fate of the controversial Greenfield Industrial Park now will head to the Lower Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors for final approval.

The project, calling for a warehouse to be constructed on 81 acres on Hanoverville Road near Keystone Drive, received unanimous approval Monday from township planners.

The project previously received approval for three separate warehouses on the tract in 2006, but those plans were scrapped. The developer now has revised plans to build one warehouse on the site.

“They met everything they were supposed to meet,” Planning Commission Chairwoman Linda Crook said Wednesday about the approval.

The proposal has had its fair share of criticism from locals who say noisy trucks, dirty air and lower property values will make their way into their neighborhood.

Stuart Schooley, co-owner of Dutch Springs recreation area, previously said he is not against the project, but is concerned it could hurt the water quality of his freshwater facility used by scuba divers.

Hanoverville Road resident Vernon Snyder said Greenfield will only add to truck traffic and diesel fuel from the trucks coming from the C&S Wholesale Grocers warehouse across from his home and near the proposed site.

Greenfield Industrial Park would bring 18-wheel trucks operating 24 hours a day, making an estimated 4,000 trips daily, he said.

“The music they're playing, the other night it rattled my windows," Snyder said. "What can I say? I am cleaning my windows now, it takes me a bucket of water to clean each window from the diesel fuel."

Planners recommended the supervisors require the developer to test wells on the property and the lake used by Dutch Springs for scuba diving. Schooley could not be reached for comment Wednesday about the possible testing.

Although Greenfield needs approval for the revised plan, a previous conditional use approval permitting a warehouse development remains in effect from 2006.

Planners asked supervisors to place a “sunset law” on future conditional use approvals, which would mean if a project isn’t constructed within three years of approval, then the developer would have to reapply for conditional use approval.

James Preston, the attorney representing Greenfield Builders, did not return a phone call for comment.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2012/03/lower_nazareth_planners_give_n_1.html