— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Easton already faces a million-square-foot warehouse on the way on the old Pfizer property in Wilson Borough.
Now, just south of the city, a smaller big box looms just off Route 78 in Williams Township.
Today at 11 a.m., the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission will review a plan to combine four lots in 16.3 acres to make way for a 272,700-square-foot warehouse. The address is 40 Hilton St., on the border of Glendon and a couple blocks from the South Easton Cemetery. The land is zoned for industrial use and is a half mile from the Route 78 intersection.
See this link for the plans, overhead shots and more details.
This won’t be the last warehouse plan. Periodically, you’ll hear that “the warehouse era is ending.”
It isn’t. Developers are finding new places to put these, including on top of old quarries. While warehouse development nationally may slow down, the areas with clusters of these huge buildings will continue to get more.
They are here in the Lehigh Valley for a reason, actually three reasons: location, location, location.
So don’t fall for wishful thinking.
Don’t blame the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. They are in most cases an advisory board. Final decisions are made at the municipal level, and private-property rights prevail.
If a tract of land is zoned for a certain use, that use will happen. Plans can’t be rejected just because people don’t like them.
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission will meet at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 19 at 615 Waterfront Drive Suite 201 in Allentown (on the waterfront).
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 