‘This is not progress’: Lehigh County township denounces warehouse plans

Keep the warehouse out.

That was, in no uncertain terms, the feedback residents and officials gave on a development proposed for Lowhill Township during a Tuesday public hearing.

“This is not progress,” one resident said. “This is environmental destruction by outsiders.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection hosted the public hearing so that residents could give feedback for the 312,000-square-foot warehouse that Core5 at Route 100 LLC wants to build at 2766 Route 100.

The hearing specifically concerned Core5’s application for a National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System permit. It would allow the developer to discharge stormwater from construction into a tributary to the Little Lehigh Creek and nearby wetlands.

The Clean Water Act protects both of these watercourses, the DEP said in a news release.

Of the few dozen people who attended the hearing, including representatives from Core5, about dozen officials and residents spoke to criticize the company for its project, citing numerous reasons the DEP should deny the permit application. These included safety risks, missing information from the applicant, and the potential degradation of both residents’ quality of life and the local environment.

“I would say that we represent the Three Little Pigs,” Lowhill Township resident Joanne Mertz said. “The Core5 developers, I would say, represent the Big Bad Wolf. And we all know how the story ends.”

Lowhill Township Planning Commission member Sue McGorry contested the applicant’s claims that it selected other project sites as alternatives and that the 2766 Route 100 site has readily available public unities. She claimed Core5 hasn’t disclosed those alterative sites, and pointed out that the proposed site doesn’t have public water or sewage.

Curtis Dietrich, a supervisor for Lowhill Township, said the lack of public water impacts the safety of anybody inside the warehouse should a fire occur.

“I doubt the ability of our local volunteer fire departments to adequately fight fire given the warehouse proposal as it is presently constituted,” he said.

Dietrich added that the current lack of a tenant for the warehouse makes it difficult to predict and mitigate impacts from the warehouse such as stormwater, truck traffic and noise.

Lowhill Township resident Mike Figard, speaking on the proposal as a whole, elaborated on the quality of life concerns, particularly when a warehouse produces constant light pollution or when truck drivers use engine brakes in the early hours of the morning.

“Do we call you at 2 in the morning?” Figard said to the Core5 representatives on Tuesday.

Weisenberg Township resident Rob Weinberg said the applicant hasn’t specifically addressed or investigated any secondary impacts to the wetlands specifically, including the potential reduction of wildlife habitats and the potential increase of toxic discharge from the wetlands to downstream waters.

Residents who want to comment on the permit application can send those comments to Pam Kania of the DEP Waterways and Wetlands Program at pkania@pa.gov .

DEP spokesperson Colleen Connolly said the DEP will accept comments until 4 p.m. Aug. 6. She added that it was unknown when the DEP would come to a final decision, and that it could take several weeks before the DEP provides responses to public comments.

The Core5 representatives at Tuesday’s meeting declined to comment.

Core5 also wants to build a 100,559-square-foot warehouse at 7503 Kernsville Road , while CRG Services Management LLC wants to build a 299,800-square-foot warehouse at 2951 Betz Court.

The developers for all three warehouses have entered litigation with Lowhill Township after officials denied the proposals.

Dietrich said the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is currently reviewing the lawsuit over the 2766 Route 100 warehouse.

In May, the DEP tentatively denied CRG’s NPDES permit application for Betz Court shortly before the Commonwealth Court upheld the overturning of Lowhill’s denial of the project .

Meanwhile, Lehigh County Judge Michele Varricchio is deciding if the township’s denial of the Kernsville Road warehouse is legitimate, as she previously decided that Dietrich wasn’t properly appointed as a supervisor when he voted in 2022 .