WILSON, Pa. — Traffic remained a hot topic surrounding the proposed Easton Commerce Park, but the million-plus-square-foot warehouse got a vital approval from Wilson Borough Council on Monday.
The 7-0 vote came even after representatives from other municipalities asked for more time to discuss the matter.
Wilson Council gave preliminary and final approval with conditions after granting developers waivers on five points, which solicitor Stan Margle said were “small deviations from our zoning rules and our SALDO, Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.”
“I do quite a bit of development, both on this side of the table and on that side, and these guys are miles ahead of where they should be at this level of presentation."Wilson solicitor Stan Margle
Public questions and comments on the matter Monday were tame compared with those at a planning commission hearing in Easton last week.
But a push by members of the governing councils of two adjoining municipalities provoked lively interaction.
Most parties appeared satisfied with the presentation and discussion of needed road improvements.
Project waivers included combining preliminary and final approval into one plan and increasing driveway widths to more than 30 feet to accommodate trucks on the property.
Also, removing the need for sidewalks along the street and opting for an alternate trail path instead, using berms for detention basins greater than 15 feet and widening Wood and Hackett avenues.
Council granted those waivers as long as they remain in compliance with the input of Borough Engineer Monica Wall.
'Fairly automated'
KCI Technology’s Ian Preston, traffic engineer for the project, gave council a quick overview of the transportation impact study for the site.
It covers two proposed site access driveway locations — on Wood and Hackett avenues, both state Transportation Department-owned roadways, Preston said.
Ten other intersections beyond the site access driveways also are included in the study, spread throughout Easton, Wilson and Palmer Township.
PennDOT District 5 and all the municipalities had the opportunity to weigh in on study intersections, Preston said.
He detailed how the proposed center would be “fairly automated” and produce less traffic than “older, traditional, smaller warehouse layouts.”
An average day would see about 900 vehicles entering and exiting the property for 1,800 trips, with weekday morning and afternoon peak hours, he said.
At those times, the site is expected to generate 150 and 160 peak hour trips. Fewer than 250 of the 1,800 daily trips are expected to be semi-trailers or trucks, Preston said.
"Truckers for these types of sites are typically pretty good at avoiding the peak hour travel, just because it delays their travel by so much,” he said.
He said those figures were discussed between PennDOT officials and Wall, and while the developers intend to address the borough engineer’s comments in the final traffic study, they don't anticipate substantial changes with recommendations on the project.
'They're way ahead'
PennDOT has recommended off-site improvements near the facility, Preston said, and the developers have agreed to add turning lanes among other improvements to Wood and Hackett avenues.
According to Preston, part of the left-turn lane along Wood Avenue at the Route 22 interchange approaching Easton will be extended, along with signs posted overhead.
Wood and Hackett avenues also both will have right-turn lanes installed — one from Wood Avenue to Hackett, and another from Hackett to Wood, Preston said.
Though it was not specifically requested by the borough or PennDOT, Preston said, the road shoulder will be widened before the intersection, letting vehicles continue before proceeding to the east on Wood Avenue, "should a vehicle be waiting to make the left turn,” he said.
A nearby culvert deemed to be in “fair” condition by PennDOT may be widened, repaired or, if needed, replaced, Preston said.
“I do quite a bit of development, both on this side of the table and on that side, and these guys are miles ahead of where they should be at this level of presentation," Margle said.
"They’re way ahead, in my view, because I think they recognize, and we recognize, that that's a mess there, that intersection, and that's going to need a lot of work."
During public comment, the potential for trucks to venture though the municipalities via the 25th Street exit as opposed to using Route 22’s 13th Street exit during high-traffic times was brought up, but Preston said the impact was lighter than expected.
“We were able to show in our analyses that with the marginal increase in traffic for the peak hours that were considered ... there are marginal impacts to those intersections," he said.
"Nothing that required off-site improvements of those intersections."
Preston said a follow-up study on the impacts of the warehouse and traffic linked to it likely would be launched within six months of the facility’s opening.
'Interest of professional courtesy'
Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone requested Wilson’s Council table the decision on the project, and Palmer Township Supervisors Chairman Michael Brett agreed.
The intent was for all three municipalities to come together to discuss the matter further.
Easton — in which just over 70,000 square feet of the property will sit — previously tabled a planning commission recommendation linked to the warehouse, with members wanting to await more information from a PennDOT study and Wilson’s decision on the matter.
“We are asking you, myself [and] Palmer Township, in the interest of professional courtesy, to table your vote," Pintabone said.
"Sit with the city of Easton, Palmer and Wilson, and let's discuss it together. We're not asking you to kill anything. We're asking what we didn't hear today.
"We talked about traffic; we talked about life. What we didn't hear today is the impact, the negative impact, in the West Ward community, our residents, the Wilson residents that I don't represent, but you guys, do."
'When did we ever bring trucks?'
Wilson Councilman Jeffrey Bracken said that during his time in government, he did not recall any projects in which his borough was tapped to consult upon in Easton.
Pintabone responded, “When did we ever bring trucks? What project did we do that negatively impacted Wilson?”
At that point, Margle interjected to clarify that particular segment of the meeting was “not a dialogue,” and that Pintabone had his time to speak.
Brett pointed out that Palmer Township had extensive experience with warehouses, and he wished to share his government body’s expertise with Wilson.
“We'd just like to share that; have the opportunity to collaborate with you and have you learn from our mistakes in dealing with these applications to help mold this into the best project that it could be for Wilson," Brett said.
"And mitigate the negative impacts that you could possibly have. Because what we have found is with developers, in this case, they're typically amenable, amenable in ways that you might not think they would be.”
Margle said that if a decision was not made within the allotted time constraints, the developer would get “deemed approval” not dependent on the borough engineer’s recommendations.
