HANOVER TWP., Pa. — A proposed rule change to Hanover Township, Northampton County's, zoning would limit warehouses and force them to be tied to manufacturing.
The move comes months after a proposed change by a developer for a massive warehousing complex was rejected.
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Tuesday reviewed Hanover Township's proposed change to its Airport Flightpath Highway Business zoning district that would limit the part of buildings that could be used for warehousing.
The planning commission's Comprehensive Planning Committee recommended the proposal to the full Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Thursday.
After that, it will appear before the Hanover Township Board of Supervisors on Feb. 27.
"Any warehouse of storage use shall be accessory to the permitted manufacturing use of the site and for the storage of supplies utilized in the manufacturing process or the finished goods manufactured on site."Zoning amendment proposed for Hanover Township, Lehigh County
Current regulations conditionally allow warehouses and storage facilities in excess of 25% of the square footage of the building, according to the LVPC.
The new amendment would limit the square footage to between 25% and no greater than 50% of the square footage and would make warehouse and storage facilities an accessory use.
"Any warehouse of storage use shall be accessory to the permitted manufacturing use of the site and for the storage of supplies utilized in the manufacturing process or the finished goods manufactured on site," the proposed amendment states.
The proposed amendment would delete the segment pertaining to warehouse and storage facilities in excess of 25% of the square footage of a building.
A response letter to the plan signed off by LVPC Senior Community Planner Jillian Seitz says the proposed rule change serves to "clarify the Township's intended conditional uses and regulations, and supports best practices for managing development processes and guiding the location and intensity of development."
The ordinance also states building design and site landscaping are to "reduce the appearance of the building as a warehouse or storage building."
Massive development rejected
The move comes after the township voted 3-2 on Oct. 10 to reject a text amendment to zoning laws that would have enabled a massive "master-planned flex center" by Majestic Realty.
The proposed project consisted of 10 buildings on 3.2 million square feet near the airport, and was met with a spat of concerns from a crowd of residents.
“Storage and warehousing today is a permitted accessory use and up to 25 percent, and a conditional use up to 50 percent, of a building square footage."Joseph Uliana of J.M. Uliana & Associates
“Storage and warehousing today is a permitted accessory use and up to 25 percent, and a conditional use up to 50 percent, of a building square footage," Joseph Uliana of J.M. Uliana & Associates, which represents Majestic Realty, in an August presentation.
"The master plan flex center use text amendment proposes storage and warehousing to be a conditional use from 50 percent to 100 percent of the building, but only if the building is inside this setback."
The zoning district is meant to allow the design and development of "carefully selected businesses, business parks and recreation/entertainment facilities along portions of arterial and collector highways within the LVI Airport aircraft flightpath," according to township documents.
