UPPER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — Two building projects soon will be up for final approval in the township.
Upper Macungie Planning Commission on Wednesday recommended approval to Americold Logistics’ final plan to more than double the size of its cold storage warehouse at 7150 Ambassador Drive.
The commission also recommended approval for a preliminary/final plan for Twin Ponds, a mixed-use housing development with a day care facility along Hamilton Boulevard.
Both of the plans will now go before the township Board of Supervisors — the last township approval needed before construction.
The Planning Commission tabled a plan for a new warehouse along Route 100, which faced initial opposition from township staff and the adjacent hotel, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Allentown West.
The parties later came to an agreement on how the warehouse should operate in order to be approved, such as limiting the amount of truck trips generated from it.
The plan will come before the commission again at a future meeting.
Americold expansion
Americold plans to add a 60-foot-tall, 326,859-square-foot building expansion to its warehouse, which stores frozen food.
The expansion would be attached to the existing, 45-foot-tall, 268,521-square-foot building. Plans also include a new detached 3,774-square-foot office/welfare building.
The expansion would double the number of truck trips per day to 490, representatives with the applicant said previously. It was valued at $85 million in Americold’s third quarter report published in November 2023.
"Through discussions with the nearby neighbors, the wall was decided to put in to try to provide some [sound] mitigation."Americold's sound engineer Ben Mueller
The final plan includes a 12-foot-tall wall between the property and the nearby residential development to try to reduce the amount of noise residents hear from the warehouse.
Sound engineer with the project Ben Mueller said he did a sound study for the project and found the expansion would not add to the noise from operations, since it is being built away from the residential development.
“But through discussions with the nearby neighbors, the wall was decided to put in to try to provide some [sound] mitigation,” Mueller said.
Twin Ponds
The Planning Commission also voted unanimously to recommend preliminary approval for a plan for 132 residential apartment units and a day care facility at 8739 Hamilton Blvd.
The development, called Twin Ponds, would have a large parking lot with 22 apartment buildings on its periphery. The developer is a national homebuilding firm D.R. Horton.
The property borders Hamilton Boulevard, Treeline Drive and Twin Ponds Road. Developers would build a new road to be called Lily Lane parallel to Hamilton Boulevard.
The proposed day care facility would be constructed near Treeline Drive.
Since the plan was first proposed, the developer has added a fence to the southern border of the property along Hamilton Boulevard to prevent people from trying to cross the boulevard.
