PLAINFIELD TWP., Pa. — Plans to expand Grand Central Landfill in Plainfield Township moved closer to reality Wednesday.
Township supervisors voted to carve out an exception to the municipality's steep slope protection rules.
The body voted down a second measure that would have changed zoning rules to allow landfills by right within Plainfield’s solid waste processing zone.
Waste Management’s proposal has divided the township. In a series of meetings over the past year, residents have raised concern about how a larger landfill could harm the surrounding environment, reduce property values and make Plainfield a less pleasant place to live.Plainfield Township meetings
The dump’s owner, Houston, Texas-based Waste Management, plans to build 81 acres of new disposal area on a 211-acre lot across Pen Argyl Road from the existing landfill.
If built, the expansion would extend Grand Central’s lifespan from roughly 2029 to 2049, according to the company. The nature of its operation, including the amount and type of waste it can receive, will not change.
Late last month, township officials rezoned the tract for landfill usage, clearing the main hurdle for Grand Central’s planned growth.
Waste Management’s proposal has divided the township. In a series of meetings over the past year, residents have raised concern about how a larger landfill could harm the surrounding environment, reduce property values and make Plainfield a less pleasant place to live.
Grand Central also provides a financial lifeline for the township, contributing millions of dollars to Plainfield’s municipal budget each year.
What the change approved
The zoning change approved Wednesday carves out an exception for landfills to the township’s ordinance governing steep slopes.
As a result, Grand Central and other future dumps in Plainfield can build on naturally occurring hills otherwise closed to most development and create new earthworks at a more extreme grade than zoning rules would typically allow.
Waste Management attorney Dan Rowley told the board that landfills are unlike any other project when it comes to earthmoving.
As a result, Rowley said, the state Department of Environmental Protection sets its own rules for steep slopes within a disposal area.
Expanding the landfill without modifying the steep slope ordinance would not be possible, said David Allen, an engineer consulting for Waste Management.
The township's rules
Plainfield’s zoning rules restrict high-intensity development on most slopes more than a 15% grade. After Wednesday’s vote, landfills are exempt from the requirement.
Plainfield supervisors did not approve an ordinance allowing landfills by right in the township’s solid waste processing zone.
“We’ve already had a year’s worth of meetings and hearings on the expansion, on the plans that are in front of the board, the materials in the 6-inch binder in exhibit A1, with an upcoming four-year DEP review process."Waste Management attorney Dan Rowley
The measure would not have changed the zoning rules a landfill will need to meet to operate, but would have modified the process for approving a proposed landfill.
Because the measure did not have enough support from supervisors to proceed to a vote, Waste Management must submit to a conditional use hearing before the company can move ahead with expanding Grand Central.
During that hearing, the company must persuade a majority of township supervisors its plans comply with Plainfield’s zoning rules.
State law allows residents affected by the project to participate in hearings.
Had the ordinance passed, Waste Management would have instead worked with township planning officials, engineers and consultants to determine if it meets the township’s requirements.
Waste Management requested the rule change, their attorney, Rowley said, because the conditional use process is unnecessary ahead of extensive DEP review and land development hearings.
“We’ve already had a year’s worth of meetings and hearings on the expansion, on the plans that are in front of the board, the materials in the 6-inch binder in exhibit A1, with an upcoming four-year DEP review process,” Rowley said.
Explaining the request, Waste Management’s representatives pointed to a nearly year-long conditional use approval process for a 2004 expansion that resulted in a handful of additional requirements for Grand Central.
