EASTON, Pa. — A presentation and question-and-answer session with the team behind a controversial warehouse proposed for Easton Commerce Park took a sharp turn Thursday.
Representatives from Scannell Properties and other organizations attached to the project — which would be largely in Wilson Borough, with a smaller part in Easton — came to the Easton Area Community Center to offer presentations on the initiative and engage with residents.
Many of the three dozen attendees quickly made it clear they weren't interested in hearing them.
Wilson approved plans for the project in September, and Easton's input may not tip the scales, even if it may yield some benefits for residents.
“That's exactly how these types of companies work. They just want to sneak in and take what they want. It's like colonizing through warehouses."West Ward resident Colleen O’Neal
Early in the hearing, Eastonians requested that project experts directly respond to queries on the environmental impact of the proposed warehouse.
Those include soil contamination, air and water pollution and more, along with the potential ramifications it could have on traffic, particularly in the West Ward.
Most of the content covered had been previously addressed in Wilson, effectively making the Easton get-together a summary for local residents.
'Check the box off'
West Ward resident Colleen O’Neal, who is a part of a self-described “small coalition” following the Easton Commerce Park project, voiced numerous concerns and questions to Bogia Engineering Inc. Project Manager Donald Haas and KCI Technologies Transportation Engineer Ian Preston.
When asked if the session reassured anyone in the crowd when it comes to the warehouse, O’Neal was clear and blunt.
“No," she said. "I think everybody’s more pissed off, to be honest. Nobody wants it. I think the tenor of the room kind of spoke to that. And we wanted to hold them accountable.
"Luckily, Councilman [Frank] Pintabone and Councilwoman [Crystal] Rose were able to pull together another community meeting and have them come to the table.
"But really, they’re just here to check the box off, to say we all know what’s happening."
O’Neal said she and her fellow community members “wanted them to understand the environmental impact, the health impact, the traffic impact” of the warehouse development.
She said she felt the concerns of the community went largely unaddressed.
“Just knowing all this, and knowing that they're just going to come in here and try to steamroll over everybody, and if we don't say something, then the rest of us don't know what's going on," O'Neal said.
"And that's exactly how these types of companies work. They just want to sneak in and take what they want. It's like colonizing through warehouses."
'It's going to happen somewhere'
As Wilson had already approved the plans previously, Thursday’s meeting was originally intended to bring residents and the developers to the table to see what the warehouse project could offer Easton.
“It's one of those commercial developments where whether it goes here or miles down the road, it's still going to generate the traffic on 22 and 78. It's going to happen somewhere,”Donald Haas
Haas said that while some points of the meeting were contentious, he felt that community participation was an important part of the project, especially in terms of feedback.
“It's one of those commercial developments where whether it goes here or miles down the road, it's still going to generate the traffic on 22 and 78," Haas said.
"It's going to happen somewhere. I understand it's not fun to have it here, but there's a lot of environmental cleanup that's happening.
"Somebody that can afford to do that… $7 million plus in environmental cleanup and trails, the pedestrian bridge, the stream relocation, that's all going to be a benefit for the community, but it's one of those agreements where I have to pay for it with the developers.”
Pintabone said he was well aware of the potential for the meeting to go awry, but felt that it was necessary to arrange direct engagement between the community and the developers.
“I knew it wasn't going to be comfortable," he said. "I knew everybody wasn’t going to hold hands, or sing along, but it needed to be done.
"The public has a right to know what's going on. They have a right to voice their concerns, their opinions, and ask questions. So that's what I want to see more of.”
Pintabone said most people were respectful, and while not everyone agreed with one another, the crowd appeared to have a better understanding of the project.
Land use attorney Charlie Courtney agreed that meeting with the community was needed to help him and the developers explain the plan effectively to the community.
“I think very often when these projects are proposed, the rumor mill starts," Courtney said.
"So it’s always a great plan to have an outreach meeting where the plans can be presented and we can give the public the opportunity to ask what they want to ask.
"Which is why we had proposed the meeting the way we had proposed it, but it worked out."
Courtney said he hoped to get across the concept that many of the environmental and traffic questions would be addressed through mandated processes initiated by municipalities and PennDOT.
"So that is the process, and that's the process that we follow. That's the process that the ordinances require. We've done everything that everybody has requested us to do. That's our obligation,”Charlie Courtney
This “scoping process” looks into the full scope of the transportation impact zone, he said.
That, he said, could lead to plan changes — such as additional intersections or alterations to local roads if they are deemed necessary.
Such endeavors can take months, if not years, Courtney said.
"So that is the process, and that's the process that we follow," he said. "That's the process that the ordinances require. We've done everything that everybody has requested us to do.
"That's our obligation."
What's in it for Easton?
Rose said she could easily see her constituents’ concerns, though she did see the project as an inevitability.
She said Easton could try to combat the plan, but likely would face hundreds of thousands of dollars in court costs, and ultimately lose a case against the developer, as the land is appropriately zoned for the project.
It’s a fate Rose said she has heard about in other municipalities dealing with similar projects, with cities left holding the bill with nothing to show for it.
“I just want to get the most that we can for our residents… We all live here, too.”Crystal Rose
At this point, Rose said, the focus should be to make the project benefit Easton as much as possible — a mission she, Pintabone and other Easton officials are pursuing.
The more than 1 million-square-foot warehouse would be built near Hackett and Wood avenues, at the old Pfizer Pigments and Elementis Pigments property at 1525 Wood Ave.
“I just want to get the most that we can for our residents," Rose said. "We all live here, too.
“We've met with the developers twice and brought those concerns to the table. We have had some updates to the plan made due to those concerns.
"And we've also secured as part of the proposal some additional funds to help in the future if we do have some of those traffic issues in our neighborhoods, such as tractor-trailers turning around on Wood Avenue into the West Ward neighborhood."
She said there might even be room to get the developers to agree to provide funding for charitable endeavors in Easton, based on progress she said she has already seen.
The issue is set to come up at Easton’s Planning Commission in January.
It appears citizens are infuriated enough to fight the warehouse to the bitter end.
“There's an alternative — we all live here," O'Neal said. 'We love our city. We don't want the city to get sued by some ... developer.
“We want our city to be really strong and healthy. So if that falls on the citizens to create a legal action against this project, it's not something that we're not talking about.”
