ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Thursday night heard a former Plainfield Township supervisor’s concerns about a possible expansion of the Grand Central Landfill in the township.
Jane Mellert expressed opposition to the proposal by Waste Management to amend the township’s zoning ordinance to allow for the landfill expansion.
The request calls for rezoning a portion of the land from a Farm and Forest District to Solid Waste Processing and Disposal District.
The land on the east side of Pen Argyl Road is zoned for farm and forest uses. Waste Management wants that changed to use for solid waste processing and disposal.
"We should be protecting the farmland, not taking more of it for a landfill.”Jane Mellert, former Plainfield Township supervisor
Waste Management’s request is based on its assessment that the landfill is nearly full.
“I don’t feel enough information on this has been reviewed,” Mellert told the commission. “This (rezoning) will have a big impact on the township. We should be protecting the farmland, not taking more of it for a landfill.”
Earlier on Thursday, Mellert provided the commission with a 1988 study the township conducted on the potential impacts of an expansion.
“I’m asking you to please review the study from the township before moving forward,” Mellert implored the commission. “You’re only making a decision by reviewing Waste Management’s information.”
The LVPC staff review of the project noted:
“If the area is rezoned, significant adverse community impacts are unlikely due to the close proximity of the expansion area to existing operations. The most substantial impacts would be to the land itself.”
Becky A. Bradley, LVPC executive director, said the commission should have Plainfield Township officially submit the study for review.
LVPC Chair Christopher Amato suggested the staff review letter should be amended to state that “if the area is rezoned, the impact to the land cannot be ruled out entirely.”
Commissioner John Gallagher noted that the decision will ultimately be made by the municipality.
The LVPC is required to comment officially on the project by Dec. 6.
Grand Central Landfill has proposed this expansion before. The request was shot down in 2020 by a different township board after a series of meetings during which Plainfield Township residents opposed the proposal.
The expansion also must be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Land development projects advanced
The LVPC accepted the staff review of two proposed land development projects involving construction of two warehouses in Wind Gap Borough and Plainfield Township, and the building of an elementary/secondary school in Allentown.
The warehouse project, known as The Cubes at Wind Gap, calls for a combined 640,000-square-foot structure at 905 Pennsylvania Ave., also known as Route 512.
The Allentown project, known as Northridge Project, consists of a multi-story, 203,400-square-foot school at 1600 Hanover Ave.
The school would be built on the site of the former Allentown State Hospital.
“It’s refreshing to see a project for a school like this,” said Armando-Moritz Chapelliquen, LVPC treasurer.
The project would also include the construction of new roads.
The overall proposal for the entire 195-acre Northridge complex includes rental and for-sale homes with multi-family flats, single-family homes, senior living, garden apartments, town houses, retail, health care and flexible business spaces and retail.
If approved, the school construction will likely begin in the fall of 2025.
City Center, the developer of the proposed project, lists its estimated cost at $115 million.
