The developer of the FedEx Ground hub lost a key vote needed to build more warehouses on land owned by the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority when East Allen Township supervisors shot down a bid to rezone the property.
About 75 residents stood and applauded after supervisors voted 5-0 on Wednesday against The Rockefeller Group’s request to rezone 155 acres on Weaversville Road from agriculture to light industrial business park.
The parcel is next to the site in Allen Township where Rockefeller is building the 800,000-square-foot FedEx Ground hub and has approval for a 300,000-square-foot warehouse.
“I am a firm believer in that, if farmland is being farmed, which in this case it is, then it’s fulfilling its current zoning,” said Roger Unangst, chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “They had to show us the benefit to the township to change this zoning and I don’t believe they showed that.”
Unangst said the stiff opposition from residents was a factor in his vote. He sees his post on the Board of Supervisors as an extension of residents’ voices.
“I take that very seriously — representing the people,” he said. “The rural atmosphere here is of the utmost importance to our residents.”
The decision, which the developer has 30 days to appeal, puts in jeopardy the New York developer’s agreement of sale with the airport authority, which hinged on the rezoning. If sold, the East Allen property would net the airport authority at least $3.9 million, airport officials have said.
Rockefeller and the authority had until the middle of October to finalize the sale, airport authority officials recently said.
A statement issued by the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority did not address how the decision could affect the land sale and whether there’d be any significant financial ramifications for the authority. Colin Riccobon, spokesman for the authority, said it will continue to work with the Rockefeller Group on the sale of other parcels in adjacent Allen Township.
“The Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority respects the zoning change process and decision of East Allen Township,” the statement read. “We are sensitive to concerns from the community and will continue to evaluate our options regarding this parcel of land.”
Clark Machemer, senior vice president and regional development officer for Rockefeller, offered no reaction as his team prepared to leave the auditorium at Northampton Area High School after the board’s decision.
“No comment at this time,” he said.
The likelihood of a successful appeal by which the township must rezone the land is “extremely slim to zero,” said David Brooman, attorney with High Swartz LLP in Norristown, Montgomery County.
Brooman, who has three decades of zoning and land use experience, said one of the only successful avenues for appeal in such cases pertains to spot zoning, and that doesn’t seem applicable here.
“The municipality has no obligation to change zoning,” Brooman said. “When you’re talking about a legislative decision to not change zoning, it’s usually lights out. It’s as good as done and over.”
But that doesn’t mean the Rockefeller Group will walk away from the project.
Brooman said developers with enough investment in a project will continue to come back before a municipality with their proposal, bolstering their arguments and finding ways to sweeten the deal each time. He said he’s seen the most patient companies fostering change at the ballot box by winning their case after several tries and a few election cycles later.
“The ballot can sometimes be the only place where you can make those changes,” Brooman said. “There’s nothing to stop [a developer] from continuing to come back and [the township should] expect it.”
In seeking the rezoning, Rockefeller representatives touted the benefit to local taxing bodies, which stand to gain between $1.88 million and $2.67 million in new annual revenue. The land, now leased for farming, draws no revenue since it is owned by a governmental agency.
Unangst, speaking on his own behalf and not for that of the entire board, said the argument for creating a tax base wasn’t convincing to him. He subscribes to the belief that developing land brings with it added municipal costs that counterbalance the tax benefit.
Rockefeller officials also said the rezoning would pave the way for them to fund much-need improvements to Weaversville Road, which they pointed out is identified as a need in the township’s Comprehensive Plan.
They further noted that the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, an advisory body, said the rezoning would be consistent with Northampton County’s Comprehensive Plan.
Unangst said the developers plans for handling traffic on the rural roads in the township was insufficient in his opinion. Many of the twisting roads that cut through the bucolic township are already handling more vehicles than the state recommends.
“Our roads are already full,” Unangst said. “We’ve already got bottlenecking.”
Residents from East Allen and Allen decried the impact of all looming warehouse development on their quality of life.
Pete James, who lives on Atlas Lane in Allen Township, used a laser pointer to indicate on a map displayed by Rockefeller on a large screen all the warehouses planned for the region.
Besides Rockefeller’s plans in East Allen and Allen, which include future expansion of the FedEx site, they include 1.5 million square feet by Liberty Property Trust along Route 329 in Allen, which has township approval, and 2.5 million square feet at Route 329/Howertown Road/Seemsville Road in Allen proposed by the Jaindl and Watson land companies.
Calling them “a wall of warehouses,” he said property values will drop, and no new residents will want to move to the area.
“When someone sees a horseshoe of warehouses are they going say, ‘That’s the place for me?'” he said.
Paula McKee of North Halbea Street in East Allen said Rockefeller failed to prove the rezoning would be a benefit to residents.
Robert Bysher, who lives on Weaversville Road in East Allen, mentioned traffic concerns raised during a Planning Commission meeting Monday in Allen Township on the Jaindl-Watson plan.
Bysher said Allen Planning Commission Chairman Gene Clater estimated the East Allen rezoning would yield an additional 1,500 trucks trips per day.
“Do you feel that’s a problem?” he asked Brian Harmon, Rockefeller’s traffic consultant.
“If all the statements Mr. Clater made are correct I can see where that could be a problem,” Harmon replied.
Richard Novak of Bally Drive in Allen Township cautioned the board to make a thoughtful decision.
“Once you rezone this land there’s no going back,” he said.
Kevin Duffy is a freelance writer.
