LOWHILL TWP., Pa. — Plans for another warehouse in the township have been rejected by the Lowhill Township Board of Supervisors.
- Lowhill Township supervisors denied a land development plan for one of three proposed warehouses in the township
- The supervisors previously denied preliminary plans for a different warehouse. The township's former zoning officer said the supervisors legally had to approve it because it met the zoning ordinances
- Supervisors Chairman Richard Hughes said it's possible that the developer will sue the township
The warehouse proposed by developer Core5 Industrial Partners is one of three proposed warehouses in the rural township.
Supervisors denied a land development plan for the project at a special meeting Monday.
Core5 Industrial Partners rejected the supervisors' request for a time extension to consider its plan.
Supervisors Chairman Richard Hughes said it's possible the developer will sue the township because of the denial.
Hughes said supervisors denied the plans for the warehouse because they don’t want it in their township.
“It's not safe for the people," Hughes said. "Our job is health, safety and welfare of the taxpayers — that's what the supervisors are charged with. And none of this adds up to that."
“It's not safe for the people. Our job is health, safety and welfare of the taxpayers — that's what the supervisors are charged with. And none of this adds up to that."Chairman of the Lowhill Township Board of Supervisors Richard Hughes
Lowhill supervisors denied preliminary plan approval for a different warehouse proposed on Oct. 6.
After that meeting, Hughes said he expected the developers, CRG, to sue the township. The lawyer representing CRG said the plans met the township’s zoning ordinances, and according to Pennsylvania law, the supervisors have to approve any plans that meet the zoning ordinances.
Warehouses in the Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley has become a prime spot for warehouses because of its proximity to major cities, and access to interstate highways. That has led to an explosion of warehouse development in the region over the past decade.
At Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Outlook and Awards Banquet, Chief Community and Regional Planner Steve Neratko said so far in 2022, there have been about 15 million square feet of proposed warehouses and distribution centers in the Lehigh Valley.
“Yes, we've seen a lot of warehouse proposals, and yes, we think that'll continue in the near term,” Neratko said.
Is it legal to deny the Lowhill warehouse plans?
Lowhill Township’s former zoning officer, Brian Carl, resigned from his position at the Oct. 6 meeting, saying since he was doing work for both Weisenberg and Lowhill Townships, his workload became too much.
Carl had previously said the three proposed warehouses meet the township’s zoning ordinances, so the township is legally required to approve them.
The acting zoning officer for Lowhill Township, Ryan Christman, said he had no other interpretations of the zoning ordinances other than what Carl said.
Hughes said some people think the issue is simple: the zoning laws in the part of Lowhill Township where the warehouses are proposed allow for warehouses, so the supervisors legally have to approve them. Otherwise, the township will get sued and lose.
But Hughes disagrees. He said while warehouses are allowed in the area where the warehouse is proposed, there are some parts of the zoning ordinances that the proposal doesn’t meet.
“It's all interpretation of the law,” Hughes said.
Executive Director of the LVPC Becky Bradley said in an earlier interview about the warehouse proposals in Lowhill Township that zoning decisions do not require a lot of interpretation.
“It is a very black-and-white issue with zoning," Bradley said. "Zoning decisions are not arbitrary or capricious. They are made under the terms of the municipal law in place at the time."
In response to Bradley’s comments, Hughes said, “She isn’t a lawyer.”
Hughes said the supervisors will continue to fight for Lowhill Township.
“We'll keep going along and doing our best to keep Lowhill rural, which is what it's for," he said. "These warehouses don't belong here."
The next Lowhill Township Board of Supervisors meeting is 6:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at Fogelsville Fire Company.
