Residents come out against warehouse proposed for DiGirolamo tract in Buckingham

Tension ran high inside the Buckingham Township building Wednesday night, as residents packed a standing room-only meeting to speak out against a proposed warehouse plan.

More than 150 people attended the township’s planning commission meeting where an application, submitted by J.G. Petrucci Company, a developer based in Asbury, New Jersey, was presented, proposing the the redevelopment of a 58-acre property on Cold Spring Creamery Road, known as the DiGirolamo tract.

Preliminary plans included a 150,000-square foot warehouse with 30 truck bays, two parking areas, an access drive for trucks at Stony Lane and another driveway for employees off Progress Meadow Drive.

The property consists of two parcels owned by Eugene DiGirolamo, Jr., Mary DiGirolamo and Bensalem Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo, Jr.

The developer's representatives went over the site plans and the results of a traffic study.

A lot line adjustment with the Doylestown Airport and proposed changes to the intersection of Old Easton and Landisville roads, involving the addition of stop signs and solutions to improve sight lines, were explained.

In addition, a number of waivers that involved bufferings, parking, curbing, road improvements and bike and pedestrian paths were also reviewed.

More on the plan and neighbors concerns: Here's the latest plan to bring a warehouse to 58 acres in Buckingham

Buckingham residents raise red flags over truck traffic

Comments from the public carried a range of emotions, including anger and frustration, significantly focused around the issues of traffic and safety.

Dozens of neighboring residents — many who live along the surrounding roads and in nearby neighborhoods — expressed fears that a warehouse would bring in an overwhelming number of tractor trailers to the largely rural, residential community.

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Township engineer Daniel Gray said 90 trucks a day would access the property, based off a conservative estimate for general warehouse use cited in the traffic study.

The number of trucks, the size of the roads and a potential for more accidents, worried Larry Woodson, a longtime resident of Landisville Road.

“There was one (accident) at my driveway, there have been multitudes of them along the road in front of my house, as well as my immediate neighbors on both sides,” he said.

Peter McCullough, an operations executive for a large medical distribution company who also lives along Landisville Road, said the proposed placement of the building was a bad fit for the area due to the routes truckers would have to travel to access the warehouse.

“All of the safety concerns, the ingress and egress points out of here, are going to make this an absolute nightmare,” he said.

Questions and concerns were also raised over the potential for increased noise and light pollution, a decrease in home values, storm water management, the possibility of hazardous materials being stored and transported, whether the warehouse would operate around the clock, environmental factors, such as air quality and groundwater contamination, as well as public safety and emergency planning.

Buckingham warehouse plans tabled

Following the public comment period, the planning commission tabled the application, giving the applicant time to make adjustments.

The next planning commission is scheduled to meet again March 6 at 7:30 p.m. Whether the warehouse application will appear on next month's agenda has not been determined yet; however, its initial review period expires April 2.

Second attempt for Buckingham warehouse proposal

The recent proposal appears largely similar to plans submitted by J.G. Petrucci Company nearly a year ago before they were pulled over the summer.

Officials said then the proposed warehouse would “serve a need for a local vendor.” The vendor was not named, but township officials said an original sketch plan from October 2021, showed the project as a “Beans Parts Warehouse.”  Fred Beans Automotive Group owns several dealerships in Bucks County, along with a parts center in Doylestown.

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Buckingham warehouse plan opposed by residents in Centeral Bucks County