Passions ride high as Lancaster heads for rezoning vote to decide fate of land off Route 70

LANCASTER — Lancaster voters will head to a special town meeting Saturday to make a rezoning decision on a 1.2-million-square-foot piece of land off Route 70, where a developer is looking to build warehouses for industrial and biomanufacturing use.

This will be the second time that the rezoning of the land from residential to enterprise has been under consideration after it was first struck down in November on a "chaotic" night when 850 residents walked in the Mary Rowlandson Elementary School auditorium to cast their vote.

Following the vote, a petition with more than 300 votes resurfaced, which legally compelled the town to hold another vote this Saturday.

The property in question — colloquially known as the "rear" of the land — is part of a larger land owned by 702 LLC, the real estate entity of Capital Group Properties which purchased the undeveloped land in 2018 for $6.66 million, according to deed documents.

In the same night in November residents approved the rezoning from residential to enterprise use for the “front” part of the land which is the portion closest to Route 70. The decision greenlit a 40R project that gives Capital the green light to build 146 mixed-income dwelling units, storefronts, offices, restaurants, retail shops and medical spaces.

For the total development, Capital Group Properties has projected $4 million in tax revenue that will be funneled to the town from the total project.

Yet, the development has been a hot topic for the town, with residents divided over what effect the development will bring to town.

Many residents have held that the development complicates life for the town with traffic and environmental concerns given the 7,000 new vehicle trips per day and the projected 500 truck bays.

Kathy Hughes, a Lancaster resident, spoke against the development, saying that the town “does not have the infrastructure.”

Rob Zidek, another resident who is part of a grass roots movement called OneLancaster, has stressed the importance of considering the environmental effect the development will have from frequent trips of vehicles involved in the project.

“We are not anti-development,” said Zidek after the November vote, “but we were heading in the wrong direction.”

Jay Moody, a Lancaster resident and member of the Council of Aging, said that he was for the development, pointing to the economic impact of the project.

“We have the highest tax rates,” said Moody. “If we don’t get money, we’re going to have to cut services.”

The vote is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday.

If residents approve the measure, work will start sometime this year, according to Capital.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Lancaster residents look to vote on land off Route 70