ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A zoning ordinance amendment that would clear the way for an industrial business park containing 2.1 million square feet of warehouses near a residential neighborhood in Hanover Township, Northampton County is raising concerns.
Discussion was held during Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Planning Committee's staff review of the amendment Tuesday.
The issue will be discussed further at the LVPC’s full meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The amendment would allow for 10 warehouses. Four would measure roughly 400,000 square feet, and six would range between 61,000 and 290,000 square feet.
It was proposed by Los Angeles-based developer Majestic Realty, which currently leases the 300-acre open space at 4300 Airport Road from the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority.
The proposal amends the Hanover Township Zoning Ordinance, Aircraft Flightpath Highway Business Zoning District, or AFHBD, to expand permitted uses to include Planned Industrial/Business Park and adding related regulations, design and performance standards.
In the proposal, planned Industrial/Business Park uses require a minimum of 200 acres and with buildings up to 395,000 square feet and a maximum height of 45 feet.
100% warehouses
During Tuesday's virtual meeting, Glynis Daniels, of the Hanover Township Planning Commission, noted the parcel is adjacent to 39 homes.
The parcel directly adjoins five separate neighborhoods with many additional homes.
“The LVPC summary barely mentions warehouses,” Daniels said. “But it would permit 100 percent of warehouses there."
In October 2023, the Hanover Township Board of Supervisors denied Majestic Realty's initial request for a zoning text amendment, effectively halting the project at that time.
“The traffic, noise and pollution would have an impact on the neighborhood. I’m asking this body to reject this zoning amendment.”Glynis Daniels, Hanover Township Planning Commission
“This amendment runs contrary to the Nazareth Area Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan,” Daniels said.
“The traffic, noise and pollution would have an impact on the neighborhood. I’m asking this body to reject this zoning amendment.”
LVPC Executive Director Becky A. Bradley said the site currently permits industrial development.
“But we have to give a review against FutureLV: The Regional Plan," Bradley said. "Then we leave it up to the in-depth supervisors in Hanover Township to say what they want the local code to be.”
According to the staff review document, the proposal also includes façade requirements and a 400-foot buffer from residential zones.
Other uses allowed, and nearby
Comprehensive Planning Committee member Sunny Ghai echoed Daniels’ concerns about letting the parcel be 100% warehouses and the subsequent impact of additional traffic at and near the site.
The proposal also would amend permitted uses in the AFHBD by permitting commercial and industrial uses such as indoor agricultural grower/processor (excluding marijuana), food service stores, brew pub, microbrewery and distillery and allowing solar energy farms as a conditional use.
The area is identified for development in the General Land Use Plan of FutureLV: The Regional Plan, in which the land is appropriate for a variety of uses, including major commercial and industrial development.
The majority of the AFHBD is undeveloped agricultural land.
Recreation fees
Also Tuesday, the LVPC planning committee approved a staff review of a proposal amending the Whitehall Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance to increase the fair share contribution of Recreation Fees.
A fair share contribution is a required payment or commitment from a developer to offset the impacts of their project on a community.
A contribution now will be required of all residential subdivision and land development projects of 1,398 square feet per dwelling unit (previously 1,107 square feet) or a flat fee of $4,200 per dwelling unit (previously $2,000).
The payments ensure that new development helps pay for the new or upgraded public services and infrastructure — such as roads, schools and parks — needed to accommodate the growth.
