ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A sewage proposal for a planned 300,000-square-foot warehouse in Lowhill Township is under scrutiny by both regional planners and local officials.
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Environment Committee on Tuesday discussed its comments on the plan for a septic replacement system at the warehouse, planned for 2951 Betz Court.
While the draft comments from LVPC show parts of the plan are not recommended in order to favor farmland preservation, committee members said the language wasn’t strong enough.
Lowhill officials, also at the meeting, argued strongly against the plan.
“It's in an area that is clearly not supposed to be even graded or touched — it’s supposed to be left alone as a natural buffer area."Mike Siegel, Lowhill Township manager
“It's in an area that is clearly not supposed to be even graded or touched — it’s supposed to be left alone as a natural buffer area,” Lowhill Township Manager Mike Siegel said.
“And they agreed upon that on the preliminary plan, and now they’re proposing this, in what I consider the worst possible place in the property to put it.”
The committee’s comments, with revisions, will be presented to the full commission during its Thursday meeting.
‘Adamantly against’
The warehouse, just off of Kernsville Road, would take up 299,800 square feet on 52.5 acres.
Surrounding the site are residential and commercial properties, as well as farms.
Nearby is an unnamed tributary of Jordan Creek, which is considered a high-quality cold-water fishery, in addition to exceptional value wetlands.
Several years into the planning process, the project has been controversial, with contentious, ongoing litigation. CRG Services Management of Conshohocken, a real estate development company, is leading the project.
Both the township’s Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors have denied approval of the location of the proposed septic replacement system, Siegel said.
He cited several reasons, including zoning, as well as Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, or SALDO, violations and a lack of proposed grading of the replacement system, among others.
In addition, the plan indicates the availability of a public water supply, which is not true, he said.
“At this time, no public water supply [is] currently available,” Siegel said. “The previous will-serve letter by Lehigh County Authority has been officially rescinded by Lowhill Township in May of 2023 and is currently in litigation.”
A will-serve letter can be issued from a utility provider to a developer as a conditional approval of service.
The area proposed is a natural buffer area, with many heritage trees, Siegel said.
“The actual location of where this proposed septic system is going to go, at the very corner where there was never proposed earth-moving, and it was supposed to remain as a natural buffer area during the life of the warehouse,” Siegel said.
“The board is adamantly against placing anything in this buffer area as it serves as a buffer area, not only to the neighboring properties above with Mr. Jaindl [of Jaindl Farms], but along the side of the properties where there are actually residential homes there now.”
‘Rather wishy-washy’
LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley said planners must legally review what was provided against FutureLV: The Regional Plan, and they “cannot get involved in litigation or the politics of this issue.”
The draft comments from the LVPC show the property is in an area designated as “High Priority Farmland Preservation,” with a portion designated “High Priority Natural Resource Conservation.”
“The proposed extension of the community water system is not recommended in areas designated for farmland preservation,” according to the draft letter.
“However, while farmland preservation and natural resource conservation are strongly preferred, the use of on-lot sewage facilities is appropriate for this rural area.”
Committee member John Gallagher said the letter sounded “rather wishy-washy — it doesn't necessarily say this is a good idea, and it doesn't say it's a bad idea, and maybe that’s intentional.”
Members suggested editing the draft to include that on-site sewage allowed is typically related to residential systems, and the warehouse's proposed plan is out-of-context, as well as to seek clarity on the availability of water.
“We’re going to revise that last paragraph with respect to the scale of the on-site system,” committee Chairman Steve Repasch said.
“And we’re also going to get some additional information, hopefully from the LCA to revise that section about the waterline being recalled.
"So those are the two items that we’re going to address before this goes to the full commission.”
The vote passed unanimously.
Studying trails, gaps
Also during the meeting, Environmental Planner Christian Martinez introduced an initiative to inventory existing and planned trails across the region, as well as analyze gaps.
“This report will help identify trail infrastructure gaps and indicated ones with higher regional priority,” Martinez said.
“Mapping tools will be developed to display the entire regional trail system and track gap closures, which will help the public have a greater understanding of our trail network and stakeholders a better plan for trail infrastructure and acquire funding.”
Residents and visitors are interested in trails and outdoor recreation, officials said, but information about them is decentralized.
“The last update was in 2013, so lots has changed since then, and a whole bunch of data and information is needed for this project,” he said.
Aimed at capturing data from all 62 municipalities across Lehigh and Northampton counties, the study is expected to be published in November, following a review of a draft in October.
While the goal is to have a comprehensive review of all trails across the region, Bradley said “regional connectors” will be prioritized.
“We prioritize those regional connectors and kind of create a hierarchy or a classification system, exactly like we do for roads,” Bradley said.
“Certain roads take more vehicles than others. They have different infrastructure needs.”
