Candidates on warehousing, elections and taxes
Voters’ decisions in the crowded Northampton County Council race could have major long-term effects as they choose who will control the county coffers and decide other important decisions for the next four years.
Five at-large council seats up for grabs Nov. 2 are held by Democrats, with four Democratic incumbents and one newcomer squaring off against five Republican contenders. Democrats hold a 6-3 majority on the nine-member board, which is the county’s governing body whose responsibilities include reviewing and voting on a budget.
Incumbents Tara Zrinski,
Lori Vargo Heffner, Ronald R. Heckman and William McGee are joined by newcomer Patti Bruno.
Republicans have nominated former county Executive John Brown, who also served before that as Bangor mayor. He is joined by other council hopefuls and newcomers John P. Goffredo, Kristin Lorah Soldridge, Nicole Romanishan and Annamarie T. Robertone. Republican Peg Ferraro, the longest serving woman on council, did not seek reelection.
Council members receive $9,500 per year, with its president getting an additional $500 per year.
The candidates responded to three questions provided by The Morning Call based in part on top issues identified by readers. Answers appear in the order the candidates are shown on the ballot, and they were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Q: How do you think the county should proceed with the growth in warehousing? Should there be more emphasis on open space and farmland preservation?
Zrinski: As liaison to the farmland preservation board and the parks, recreation and open space advisory council, I see value in preserving both farmland and open space. The former is to secure agricultural security and the latter is to provide green space for recreation and public access. Preservation of both staves off warehouse proliferation. The county has budgeted $3 million per year for farmland preservation and council has approved numerous open space and recreation projects this year but, at the same time, this requires an outlay of cash . ... Neither the county nor a municipality
can prevent a landowner from selling property to a developer and often the compensation for preservation is far less than what a developer will pay for a parcel. Thus, the county and many municipalities have placed an emphasis on land preservation.
Heffner: We need to have a balance. We need to protect the environment and we can’t just have a footprint of warehouses. We need actual industry, not just empty buildings. There needs to be a commitment among municipalities, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, the counties and state, and there should be limits placed on warehouses. All there has been is development and no boundaries. There should be zoning limits that everybody collaborates and sticks to.
Bruno: Our infrastructure is
not equipped. We need to start saying, “No.”
Heckman: We must review regional planning by municipalities through the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. The county is actively acquiring land through our open space and farmland preservation Programs. This is the one thing that the county can do to preserve our precious open space.
McGee: Northampton County has done an excellent job securing open space to help combat warehouse proliferation. To date it has preserved 20,000 acres of farmland and, recently just secured another 112-acre farm. The county is running out of industrial space, as warehouse developers continue to seek alternative industrial space. I will continue to aggressively fight to preserve
our open spaces.
Brown: Additional resources need to be provided to the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and municipalities in support of multimunicipal comprehensive long-term planning. Within this process, municipalities will adopt or amend zoning ordinances to be consistent with the landuse plan and objectives each municipality determines is appropriate. This empowers the municipality to predetermine where and what type of development can occur in their communities. There is already significant focus on open space
and farmland preservation, which is important to continue to support.
Goffredo: Zoning is a local issue. Farmland preservation needs to be modified to make it nearly impossible to be developed into warehouses. However, these aren’t just warehouses. These flex buildings generate huge dollars to our local economy in a myriad ways. The jobs they provide are far from just construction work and forklift drivers. These are, at times, corporate offices for Fortune 500 companies, truck