Whitehall Township approves distribution facility with conditions

WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — A proposed distribution facility at the Fullerton Terminals facility got unanimous approval from Whitehall Township commissioners Monday.

Developers of the 190,400-square-foot facility, planned at 2451 Main St., needed approval of a conditional use request to proceed.

The 13.95-acre lot will be created from an existing 37.19-acre parcel near Range Road. The land is located in the I-industrial Zoning District.

The site would accommodate 30 tractor-trailer loading docks, 148 employee parking lot spaces and 44 tractor-trailer parking spaces.

The developers were represented on Monday by Jaindl Land Co. Engineer Rocco Caracciolo and Atty. Eric Schock.

During deliberations, township Commissioner Robert Piligian outlined the conditions upon which the board had agreed.

Among them were the limit of 40 tractor-trailer trips entering the facility and 40 trips exiting the facility per day.

Also, the site would not be used as a fulfillment center, and a fire suppression system would be installed on site.

The applicant also would be required to place pedestrian connectivity between Range Road Park and West Catasauqua Playground, as was agreed upon during land development.

Traffic concerns

Several residents addressed the board to express concern over traffic in the area of the proposed facility.

Resident Robert Bloom asked the board what guarantee there will be that trucks will only travel Range Road to Eberhardt Road.

“Who is going to control the traffic there?” he said. “We have enough accidents between there and MacArthur Road.”

Board President Thomas Slonaker told Bloom truck drivers who violate the agreement will be cited.

Township Engineer Frank Clark said the traffic concerns in the area will be examined during a PennDOT scoping study.

Commissioners at the November meeting voiced concerns over presumed significant increase in tractor trailer-traffic in the area around the site.

During that meeting, representatives of Landston Equities LLC tried to persuade the board that the amount of increased traffic from the facility would not adversely affect the area.

Ironton Rail Trail project

Also Monday, contracts were approved for the Ironton Rail Trail Trailhead parking facility improvements projects.

Pioneer Construction will perform the construction at a cost of $342,638.02, and Navarro & Wright will serve as the project inspector at a cost of $33,559.18.

Bids were awarded by the state Transportation Department.

The township received a grant of just over $320,000 for the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program for the Ironton Rail Trail Paving and Gates Project.

The Ironton Rail Trail connects nearly a dozen parks and two dozen historical sites in east-central Lehigh County.

The rail-trail comprises a five-mile loop around Coplay and Hokendauqua on the Lehigh River north of Allentown and a four-mile spur west toward Ironton.

The grant would help fund repaving of the loop and installation of security gates at key intersections by streets in the township and Coplay Borough.

Fellowship Community expansion

A plan to add 73 apartments at Fellowship Community independent living facility at 3600 Mauch Chunk Road appears near approval.

At issue were concerns by the commissioners over the ability of emergency vehicles, such as fire trucks, to access the rear of the apartments.

The project consists of building 73 independent apartment units over three buildings, each standing three stories and measuring just over 15,000 square feet.

Commissioners are in favor of the developers creating a sidewalk or path from Emerson Village to Fellowship Drive and also from the Schadt Avenue Playground to the apartment expansion area.

Developers said they would review the request.