Anna Thomas Poised to Upset Joe Emrick in Pa 137, Take Aim at Warehouse Proliferation

Pa. House District 137 includes Bethlehem Township, Hanover, Lower Nazareth, Upper Nazareth, Nazareth, and Tatamy. Republican Joe Emrick currently represents the district, and has done so for the past 14 years. But if the mailbox and internet ads mean anything, it's quite clear that incredible resources are being poured into the race to ensure that Democrat Anna Thomas pulls off an upset I live in this district and can tell you her mail pieces are flooding my inbox. Her ads are all over YouTube. She's even opened a campaign office at 35 Belvidere Street in Nazareth. On Friday, she met Governor Josh Shapiro there. On Saturday morning, a small army of canvassers met with her before going out to canvass the district. 

This is Anna's second campaign for Emrick's seat. In 2022, she came within 750 votes of unseating him, with virtually no money and no support. That's because Emrick is particularly unlikable. His far-right agenda is one thing, but it's his personality that irks most people. He refuses to return calls, respond to emails and has been entirely closed off unless you're a fellow Republican. He can even get prickly with them. 

In contrast, Thomas makes clear on her campaign webpage that who you are matters more than your party. "Good ideas come from both Republicans and Democrats, and Anna will serve the people of Pennsylvania, not the agenda of any political party or special interest group."

Thomas is a graduate of Freedom High School and Wellesley College, where she majored in chemistry. She also has a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Pa. More importantly, she has ideas. 

Today, I'd like to share her plan to stop warehouse proliferation. 

She notes that there are actually two kinds of warehouses, agricultural and e-commerce (often called "fulfillment centers"). 

She notes that agricultural warehouses are permitted by right on all farmland in Pennsylvania. "This makes sense because farmers need to be able to have places to put their crops and equipment," she observes. But e-commerce warehouses are different. They bring thousands of truck traffic trips a day, ruin local roads as well as what is left of the natural beauty of the Lehigh Valley. But as Thomas notes, they often get de facto approval because our zoning laws fail to distinguish between the two different kinds of warehouses.

What would she do? She'd work to update a zoning code first written in 1965 to distinguish agricultural from other warehouses. She'd also allow municipalities in a radius around a warehouse to be able to benefit from impact fees for road damages and other costs. As an example, she cites the warehouses built by Chrin in Palmer Tp near a Route 33 interchange. Those "fulfillment centers" primarily impact Tatamy, who has experienced a major surge in truck traffic and road damage. But that borough gets no impact fee money. 

What about Emrick? In February, he introduced legislation to give local voters the final say in whether a warehouse is approved. But that bill has only eight sponsors and is dying a slow death in some committee. And that's probably what he wants because he's been a warehouse supporter for years. 

In 2007, Emrick voted to change Upper Nazareth zoning to allow massive warehouse development. After that, he took in $19,300 from warehouse developer Charles Chrin between 2010 and 2017. Basically, he's been a warehouse enabler. 

UMBT Approves "9th Largest Bldg" in US

David Friedman, an Upper Mount Bethel Tp (UMBT) Supervisor, advised Northampton County Council last night that UMBT has just conditionally approved the 9th largest building in the country. It will be over 1.5 million sq ft when complete. Friedman said he has no idea what is intended, but possible uses do include a warehouse. 

In April, County Council voted 6-3 for a tax break for the developer at that site

UPDATED: I am unsure how this proposed building actually ranks among the country's largest buildings.

Did NorCo Council Incentivize Part of the 13 Million Sq Ft in Proposed Warehouse Development?

In April, Northampton County Council voted 6-3 to approve a tax break known as a LERTA for industrial property owned by developer Lou Pektor. Those in favor were Council members Tom Giovanni, John Goffredo, John Brown, Ron Heckman, Lori Vargo-Heffner and Kerry Myers. Voting No were Council members Tara Zrinski, John Cusick and Kevin Lott. 

This vote followed a lengthy hearing in which over 20 people spoke, some of them twice, either to support or oppose the tax break. Most of those who opposed were concerned that Pektor would develop warehouses instead of manufacturing facilities. 

This tax break was quickly vetoed by Executive Lamont McClure because "we should not be incentivizing warehouse construction with tax breaks." But the same six Council members who voted for the Pektor tax break overrode McClure. 

Last week, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's Matt Assad advised County Council that 13 million sq ft in warehouse development has been proposed in Northampton County. Council was provided with a list of "land uses of regional significance," meaning their impact will be felt in multiple municipalities. They include nine separate development plans submitted by Pektor's RPL Logistics in Upper Mount Bethel Tp.  

Assad was careful to avoid embarrassing Council by telling them they approved a tax break for warehouse development, but it certainly appears that is exactly what they did.

LV Planners To Intensify Warehouse Scrutiny

Critics like to call warehouses big boxes. Developers like to call them fulfillment centers. Whatever name you use, they have gobbled up much of the Lehigh Valley's open space while simultaneously increasing truck traffic on roads unable to handle the load. Bethlehem Township had to impose a tax hike last year to completely rebuild Brodhead Road, which truck traffic reduced to a washboard. Once Allen Tp's Fed Ex is in full swing, there will be more traffic snarls and ruined roads. Thanks to some strong advocacy, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) is expected to intensify its review of warehouse plans once its latest comprehensive plan is adopted.

In his report to Northampton County Council last night, Executive Lamont McClure condemned the "warehouse proliferation" he sees in the Lehigh Valley. For that reason, he has fully funded open space with $3 million in his proposed budget for next year. But since most open space projects are nowhere near planned warehouses, that's a very limited solution.

More meaningful is his proposal for the LVPC to intensify its review of warehouse plans exceeding 100,000 sq. ft. Currently, reviews are triggered for plans in excess of 500,000 sq ft. In a compromise, the latest comprehensive plan calls for a review of warehouses exceeding 250,000 sq ft.

Even more meaningful are two proposals made by Greg Zebrowski, who is the LVPC's Vice Chair. Automatic review of warehouse plans will be triggered if (1) they are more than a quarter mile from a major roadway or (2) are outside of designated development areas.

What really will stop them, dead in their tracks, are high traffic impact fees to repair the roads they destroy.

Thode Pans Warehouse Proposed on Gun Club Road

Blogger's Note: Dr. Stephen F. Thode has been director of the Murray H. Goodman Center for Real Estate Studies since the center's creation in 1988. He was also a Bethlehem City Planning Commissioner. From time to time, he makes the mistake of sharing his thoughts with me.

Stupefying!

That's the word Sam Elliott (as The Stranger) used to describe the events in The Big Lebowski. I am reminded of that when looking at the proposed distribution center on Gun Club Road

I don't disagree that zoning permits this use. Nor do I disagree that those opposed face a huge uphill battle.

But I do question the location from the point of view of the tenant(s) who would occupy that space. It's nowhere near a major highway. Getting to/from 33 would require driving through Nazareth on 248. That's already a mess - especially between Green St and Broad Street (and several blocks either side). Getting to/from 22? Suppose the truck is coming from or going west. How are you going to do that? 248/946/191? Ridiculous! Via Bath (248/512)? Almost as ridiculous.

I'd like to see the financials (I know, a pipe dream) that shows the developer can offer a cheap enough rent to induce a tenant to this location rather one much closer to a major highway. Note well, I believe Petrucci is still trying to find a tenant for his 390,000 sf building on Jacobsburg Road near Wind Gap. And that building is only 2 minutes from 33.

Stupefying!

Nazareth Area Residents Mobilize to Oppose Proposed Warehouse

A group of Nazareth-area residents is mobilizing to fight a 1.1 million sq ft warehouse proposed along Gun Club Road in Upper Nazareth Tp. According to The Express Times, current plans call for 263 trucking docks and 477 parking spaces.

In two days, over 250 area residents have signed an online petition opposed to any additional truck traffic spilling out into residential areas in Upper Nazareth and Nazareth. But the project is to be located in an area zoned general industrial, where warehouses are permitted by right.

Upper Nazareth's Planning Commission will review the plans on Thursday, Oct 11, at Upper Nazareth's Municipal Building.

Both candidates for State Rep. have already come out against the proposal.

Challenger Amy Wallace Cozze: "I live just over a mile from the site, and take the roads surrounding it to get my son to Lower Nazareth Elementary School. ... This is most certainly more than a local issue, there are aspects of this that allow for state level intervention. ... I look forward to not only supporting you, but to working along side of you to protect our community."

Incumbent Joe Emrick: "I stand with everyone now, just as I did last year to stop the proposed county prison at Gracedale. This is an issue that will be decided at the township level. As a result, that is where voices & concerns need to be heard and expressed the most."

My primary question at this point is whether this impacts wetlands.

Hanover (NC) Tp Takes Aim at Warehouse Development

John Diacogiannis

A recent Lehigh Valley Planning Commission survey lists trucks, traffic congestion and warehouses as the three top negatives for Lehigh Valley residents. It's going to get worse before it gets better. A FedEx ground terminal under construction in Allen Township will be operational in September. It will be its largest distribution hub in the U.S. Between January and June of this year, there has been an explosion of 1.5 million sq ft in warehouse space in Northampton County, with another 844,000 sq ft in Lehigh County. Given its proximity to New York City and Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley is fast becoming a warehouse magnet. What can a local government do? That was a topic of discussion for Hanover Township Supervisors at their July 24 meeting.

Chairman John Diacogiannis proposed that Hanover Township team up with eight other municipalities in preparing a regional comprehensive plan at a cost of about $12,000. Manager Jay Finnigan advised Supervisors that its current comprehensive plan is 13 years old, and is overdue for an update.

Diacogiannis urged a multi-municipal plan, authorized by state law, as the best way of dealing with the warehouse crisis. But Steve Salvesen  was opposed. He kept questioning whether this regional effort would really be a benefit to Hanover Tp. Finnigan replied that under this approach, Hanover Tp would get traffic impact fees from warehouse development "to improve our roads. ... We don't have that ability right now."

The biggest advantage to multi-municipal planning is that it allows for planning all categories of land uses across the participating municipalities. This means there's no need to permit all possible legal uses within one municipality, so long as one municipality accommodates it. Thus, some municipalities could deny warehouses so long as another municipality permits it. One municipality could refuse to permit a gentleman's club so long as another municipality provides for it.

Other advantages to multi-municipal planning is that it provides a framework for enhanced communication, sharing of municipal services and coordination when there are development proposals of regional significance.

The current multi-municipal plan serves the boroughs of Bath, Nazareth, Stockertown, and Tatamy; as well as Bushkill, Lower Nazareth, Moore and Upper Nazareth Townships.

Resident Cecil Blocker said he counted 16 trucks on Crawford Road on his way to the meeting. "This is going to be Trucksville USA soon," he complained. "We're at the end of the colon," replied Steve Salvesen, referring to truck traffic that will be coming through Hanover Township as a result of the FedEx facility.

Voting for the multi-municipal plan were Diacogiannis, Susan Lawless, Esq., and Michael Prendeville Salvesen was the dissenter. Jack Nagle was absent.