Lower Nazareth supervisors worried about traffic from Jaindl warehouses

“Anyone trying to get out of Hollo Road on [Route] 248 or across [Route] 248 — it is bad now, and it is going to get worse.” — Supervisor Robert Hoyer

Lower Nazareth Township supervisors raised concerns about traffic related to a plan to build two warehouses on Route 248, concerns apparently not shared by the state.

Jaindl Land Co. was before the board Wednesday night for a conditional use hearing for its plan for two warehouses along Hollo Road on Route 248.

Supervisor Robert Hoyer argued that the already problematic flow of traffic on Hollo Road would be worsened by trucks entering and exiting the property.

“Anyone trying to get out of Hollo Road on [Route] 248 or across [Route] 248 — it is bad now, and it is going to get worse,” he said. “If you ask any resident in this room that uses that intersection, and I will bet you they will all say we need some kind of traffic control in there.”

Hoyer demanded that public safety be addressed as a priority in the circulation plan of the warehouses’ development.

However, Rick Roseberry of Maser Consulting, representing developer David Jaindl, said PennDOT determined the intersection did not meet the guidelines to install a traffic light.

Jaindl said, “If PennDOT would permit it, we would absolutely look at it and consider it. We would ask our traffic engineer to look at the Hollo Road intersection again and discuss it with PennDOT.”

Jaindl stressed the importance of going above and beyond to ensure the company is accommodating to its neighbors.

The building will be hidden by a display of 10-foot trees and a 5-foot berm along the southern end to reduce visibility to the residential area bordering the site, Roseberry said. The site would also be excavated to lower the buildings by about 15 feet.

“The trees have gone up, and the building has gone down,” he said.

Neighbors still raised concerns about the development’s proximity to residential and agricultural areas.

Hollo Road resident Matthew Mikol expressed concern over his 200-year-old farm beside the warehouse site.

“It is protected under preservation,” Mikol said. “It is paid for by the taxpayers of Northampton County, and it does not make a lot of sense if you’re going to put a warehouse next to it. It devalues it as preserved farmland.”

However, Kirk Johnson, executive vice president of Watson Land Co., a California company that is partnering with Jaindl, said the development would have little impact on the surrounding community or the environment they live in.

There would be no light spillage, odors or any kind of pollutants that will affect the residents, according to Johnson. The only noise would be from trucks entering, exiting and backing up into loading docks.

The warehouses are at least 75 feet away from any residential or public property lines.

“The smaller building will have a beneficial effect on the residential areas to the south by separating and shielding them from the truck operations using the buffer yard, the berm and the warehouse building itself as a buffer,” he said.

Kirk anticipates about 120 employees in the 500,000square-foot building and 40 employees in the 150,000square-foot building.

The board agreed to defer its decision until the next meeting June 26.