Lower Nazareth OKs Route 248 warehouses; not it wants PennDOT to get intersection ready for trucks

Lower Nazareth Township officials will try to convince the state that road improvements are needed at a busy intersection poised to see increased truck traffic from an industrial development.Township supervisors Wednesday voted 5-0 in favor of developer David Jaindl’s plan to construct two warehouses along Route 248 just north of Hollo Road in a light industrial zone, where they are permitted by right as a conditional use.The plan calls for two warehouses, one 500,000 square feet and the other 150,000 square feet, on 61.5 acres of land.The property is to be divided into two lots, with the larger building on a swath nearly 44 acres, and the other on 17 acres.Lower Nazareth supervisors worried about traffic from Jaindl warehouses on Route 248Jaindl, who is developing the project in conjunction with Watson Land Co. of Carson, California, granted the township an extension until July 31 to render a decision on his final land development plan, which will be considered by the board during its 6:30 p.m. meeting July 24 in the government building at 623 Municipal Drive.Township Manager Lori Stauffer said they and the developer will continue discussions with PennDOT in the hopes of persuading them to put traffic signals at the intersection of Route 248 and Hollo Road, along with widening the road and providing turning lanes.She said the need is based on the increased tractor-trailer traffic the industrial park will generate.But to this point, Stauffer said, “they do not feel that it’s warranted.”Rick Roseberry of Maser Consulting, representing Jaindl, told the Planning Commission in April that the intent is for a high-cube distribution warehouse that will likely generate more than 100 truck trips per day. Planners then recommended preliminary land development, minor subdivision and conditional use approval.Before that, the Zoning Hearing Board granted a variance from the requirement that warehouses generating more than 100 tractor-trailer trips per day have their main access points within 3,000 feet of a highway ramp. That allowed Jaindl to place the driveway nearly 3,500 feet from the entrance to Route 33.Supervisors based conditional use approval on the provision for berms, landscaped screening and night-sky lighting compliance in order to shield the industrial park from neighboring residents.Jaindl agreed to excavate the project site to lower the height of the buildings to better screen them from view, along with 10-foot-high trees and a 5-foot berm on the southern border closest to Hollo Road.He also agreed to design the access driveway to township standards for a collector road so that it may eventually be extended to connect to Route 191 at Christian Springs Road. Jaindl agreed to then dedicate the road to the township.Kevin Duffy is a freelance writer for The Morning Call.
Source: Morningcall