Buckingham Supervisors To Consider Proposed Warehouse Project

BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP, PA — Plans by a New Jersey developer to build a 150,000-square-foot warehouse in Buckingham Township will go before the board of supervisors on Wednesday, July 24 beginning at 7:30 p.m.

According to the agenda, J.G. Petrucci Company will outline its plans for a 30-dock warehouse, which it proposes to build on the 57.3-acre DiGirolamo tract located along Cold Spring Creamery Road between Burnt House Road and Stoney Lane in the planned industrial zoning district.

The G3 warehouse use would be located on 25 acres on the east side of the property on Progress Meadow Drive. The remaining portion of the property fronting on Cold Spring Creamery Road would be placed in a conservation easement and would continue to be farmed, according to the plan.

A warehouse is a permitted use in the Planned Industrial Zoning District. The applicant, however, is asking the township for a number of waivers from its Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO).

The township's planning commission recommended approval of the plan based on the SALDO waivers, but left any questions regarding zoning up to the board of supervisors to decide.

During the planning commission meeting, opponents had argued that what the developer is proposing is not a warehouse, but a truck terminal, which is not permitted in the zoning district.

The site had previously been considered for an auto auction facility in 2019 and a 100 million square foot warehouse development, both of which were rejected by the township.

Mike Bateman, who chairs the No Buckingham Warehouse Community Coalition, said the group will be making a presentation before the board of supervisors urging them to vote against the plan based on the zoning of the property and the impact a warehouse would have on the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

"The plan shows that this is a truck terminal and a truck terminal is not allowed on this land," said Bateman. "They have said that it's a cross dock facility at multiple meetings. It's in the minutes where they have called it a cross dock facility multiple times. Now they're saying they don't see it as a cross dock facility even though they have presented it twice that way."

Bateman is also encouraging any resident who wants to voice their opinion to the supervisors to attend the meeting in person.

If it's good weather, Bateman said they'll have an overflow area set up on the lawn of the municipal building with a TV streaming the meeting. In case of rain, they'll move everything indoors to a downstairs room the group has booked for the evening.

They have also arranged for overflow parking across the street at Brown Brothers Auction.

"I don't want people to be scared away from this meeting over the lack of space," said Bateman. "We have space. We have a plan. We're doing everything we can to make sure the meeting can be attended by literally everybody."

That's important, added Bateman, because of the message it will send to the supervisors.

"If they see we're invested in the community, our hope is that the supervisors will listen and do what is very clearly legally right because the zoning is not appropriate for this project," he said.

The township has also announced that it will be broadcasting the meeting via Zoom for anyone who can’t attend in person. Those who use the Zoom option, however, won't have the ability to comment through the link. Instructions on how to access the Zoom link will be posted on the township's website.

The board of supervisors meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. It will be preceded by a public work session beginning at 6 p.m. at the Buckingham Township Building, 4613 Hughesian Drive.