LOWHILL TWP., Pa. — The township is facing another setback in its ongoing legal challenges against warehouse developers.
Lehigh County Judge Zachary Cohen ruled this month in favor of Core5 Industrial Partners’ request to have its final plan for a warehouse "deemed approval," despite township supervisors’ denial.
The warehouse plan is among three proposed in the 2,000-person township. It's the largest of the three — it would be about 312,000 square feet on 43 acres.
Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Curtis Dietrich said Lowhill will appeal the decision to Commonwealth Court.
“We will continue to work with legal council to proceed in the best interests of the township."Board of Supervisors Chairman Curtis Dietrich
The township also plans to appeal a deemed approval of another warehouse plan on Betz Court to the state appellate court, Dietrich said.
He said he doesn't have an estimate for how much the legal fees will cost. The initial litigation was covered by insurance, he said, but the appeals will not be.
“We will continue to work with legal counsel to proceed in the best interests of the township,” Dietrich said.
The judge’s decision
Township supervisors voted to approve the preliminary plan in June 2022, then denied the final plan in July 2023.
Supervisors said then that they denied the plan because Core5 Industrial Partners had made no changes to it, among other reasons.
Lowhill’s attorney argued that the township engineer had raised concerns about the preliminary plan that the developer did not address, giving supervisors the right to deny the final plan.
But Core5 Industrial Partners argued that since the township had not given them a written list of conditions after preliminary approval — as is required by state law — they did not have to change the preliminary plan before submitting it as a final one.
In a memorandum filed on April 8, Cohen agreed with Core5 Industrial Partners’ assessment.
“The Township does not cite any authority for its novel theory that review letters from its consultants … somehow served as a surrogate for the statutorily mandated Section 508 written Township decision,” the memorandum reads.
State law also says that “the applicant shall be entitled to final approval in accordance with the terms of the approved preliminary application.”
In other words, because the judge ruled there were no conditions on the preliminary plan’s approval, the judge also ruled that township is legally required to approve the final plan.
Other cases with Core5
Core5 Industrial Partners had another court victory last June in a case brought by the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.
A judge ruled that Dietrich was improperly appointed to the board
If the decision stands, that means preliminary plans for Core5 Industrial Partners’ other warehouse plan at 7503 Kernsville Road were rejected without a quorum.
The plan could then be deemed approved by the courts.
Dietrich said the township still is waiting for a ruling about a different case regarding that same warehouse — this one about whether the plan is allowed under the zoning ordinances — before deciding whether or not to appeal the decision. The two cases may be combined, he said.
Arguments for that case are scheduled for August.
