Warehouse plans hit snags in northeastern Berks

Jan. 10—This year is looking up for opponents of large warehouse projects in Maxatawny Township.

Developers have withdrawn plans for a 1.6 million-square-foot distribution center along Hottenstein Road, and the zoning hearing board has denied a variance request related to a plan for a 709,000-square-foot warehouse on 66 acres along Kutztown Road, according to township officials.

Originally proposed by Duke Realty, which was acquired by Prologis in October 2022, the withdrawn plans featured a 1-million-square-foot warehouse and a 660,000-square-foot warehouse north of Route 222, with Hottenstein Road running between them.

Plans for the site were initially approved in June 2021, but that approval was overturned by the state Commonwealth Court in April after an appeal by a residents group opposing the warehouse.

At the time of the approval, residents voiced concerns over adding an estimated 7,000 daily vehicle trips to local roads, and worried about the project's effect on the local Mennonite community, whose members travel the same roads via horse-and-buggy and bicycle.

Residents also took issue with conflicts of interest stemming from two supervisors' connection to the project.

Since then, Prologis had begun a conditional use hearing to prove their warehouses met the township's criteria for land use.

That hearing has been cancelled because Prologis has withdrawn its conditional use and preliminary plan applications, according to Chris Paff, township zoning officer.

Paff said he didn't know whether Prologis has any further plans for the site.

Kutztown airport warehouse

Another controversial warehouse plan also hit a hurdle last week when the township zoning hearing board voted unanimously to deny a request for a variance from Wyomissing-based C&B Development LLC.

C&B's proposal would place a 709,000-square-foot warehouse on 66 acres along Kutztown Road between the Kutztown University campus and a shopping center over Kutztown's western border in Maxatawny — formerly the site of the Kutztown airport, which closed in 2008.

A 6.5-acre plot at the entrance, which contains the Airport Diner, will be converted into greenspace for later use.

The project also calls for eliminating the Airport Mobile Home Park — where the proposal has triggered an exodus of nearly all residents — and a pad used by medical helicopters.

The plans have received no shortage of pushback from residents and KU students.

A Change.org petition with over 1,200 signatures raises health and safety concerns over the effects of truck traffic and the various forms of pollution that a warehouse at the site may generate.

C&B was seeking a variance from the township's rule that no access driveway servicing a warehouse facility be located within 500 feet of a residential structure.

"The board felt the applicant did not meet its burden to establish all of the criteria required for a variance," said Christopher Muvdi, zoning hearing board solicitor.

Muvdi said he was in the process of preparing a written decision for board approval and could provide no further detail at this time.

C&B has 30 days from the receipt of a written decision to appeal, Muvdi said. He said the decision should be issued within the next few weeks.