WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — A zoning extension request by the developer of a proposed 689,000-square-foot warehouse at the former Coplay quarry was unanimously granted by the township zoning hearing board on Tuesday.
The applicant, TCNE Metro Development Inc., of West Conshohocken, Montgomery County, requested a one-year extension to act on variances of the zoning ordinance that were granted to the previous applicant, Greystone Capital Inc.
The properties are in the OS-2 Open Space/Limited Industrial Zoning District
The variances would allow construction of a 50-feet-high warehouse at 5100 and 5105 Beekmantown Road with these specifications:
- 60% impervious coverage.
- 50-foot building height above grade.
- No frontage on and access from 150 feet of a public street and on steep slopes.
TCNE Metro Development also was granted a one-year extension to act on the zoning hearing board’s interpretation that the definition of a warehouse in the zoning ordinance allows certain uses incidental to warehouse use on up to 25% of the working floor space.
The property is owned by Coplay Quarry LLC, a company involved in the industrial redevelopment of the former quarry site.
Timeframe as short as 18 months
The zoning board heard from John Pollock, vice president of Trammell Crow Co., a global real estate development firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas, of which TNCE is a subsidiary.
The next step, Pollock told the board, was to create a land development application under his company’s name, then begin the process with Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.
TCNE has experience building warehouses at former quarry sites, Pollock told the board, and has built warehouses throughout the Lehigh Valley.
“We’re asking for an extension of the approvals (given to the previous applicant). The approvals run with the land, not the applicant.”Atty. Catherine E.N. Durso, TCNE counsel
The company entered into a contract agreement to buy the property from Coplay Quarry in June, Pollock said.
Greystone Capital and Coplay Quarry LLC are in litigation over its previous business relationship. Coplay voided the purchase agreement claiming non-payment.
Under questioning by the zoning board, Pollock said TCNE’s average redevelopment time to construct a warehouse in the Lehigh Valley is 22 months.
He said the timeframe could be as short as 18 months, given the previous work at the site performed by Greystone prior to its legal fight with Coplay Quarry.
Pollock was represented at the zoning hearing by Attorney Catherine E. N. Durso, of Fitzpatrick, Lentz & Bubba, of Allentown.
Board member Lee Christman asked Durso how TCNE could be requesting an extension if it is not yet in possession of the property.
“We’re asking for an extension of the approvals" given to the previous applicant, she said. “The approvals run with the land, not the applicant.”
Durso told the board TCNE would prefer an extension longer than one year. The board told her such a request would be done on a year-to-year basis.
