Residents slam Route 222 warehouse plans in final hearing
Keith Dmochowski, Reading Eagle, Pa.
4 min read
Oct. 26—Plans for a 930,000-square-foot warehouse in Maidencreek Township met their final round of opposition before supervisors decide on the project's future.
Allowing the warehouse at the intersection of Route 222 and Schaeffer Road would clog an already heavily traveled area, threaten drivers' safety, raise noise to unbearable levels, harm nearby businesses and more, according to the roughly three dozen residents who spoke at the public comment session Wednesday.
None spoke in favor of the project, which is spearheaded by developer Maiden Creek Associates, a partnership formed by Steve Wolfson of Wolfson Group Inc., Montgomery County.
Wednesday's session was the 15th and final leg of the hearing, ongoing since November, to determine whether the plans meet the township's criteria for land use.
That decision now falls to supervisors, who heard residents summarize the concerns they've been raising since the plans were first presented.
'This is just invading us'
Kamille Warkala said she's been living in the area for decades, and traveling has never been more perilous than it is right now.
"Adding more (tractor trailers) with the presence of a working warehouse is only going to increase our danger, and give us no benefits," Warkala said.
Warkala and many others said they've been cut off and nearly hit by tractor trailers driving recklessly through the roundabout at Route 222 and Schaeffer Road.
They said accidents involving tractor trailers occur frequently in the area, shutting down the roads for hours.
Ruth Schlechter, owner of The Jewelry Source on Allentown Pike, which is Route 222, said her store suffers whenever accidents occur.
"When there is an accident, and there are so many accidents, they shut down the road right in front of my store...every time they shut down, there's no business...we can't leave either. We're stuck too," Schlechter said. "There are a lot of businesses besides my own on that highway, we're all dealing with this...I just think it's unfair to bring our community more truck traffic. This is just invading us."
The noise from tractor trailers passing through Route 222 is already a problem for residents living nearby, according to Jennifer Kershner.
"You can't even enjoy being outside or have your windows down anymore," Kerschner said. "I can't imagine what it will be like with a warehouse."
Schlecter and others cited issues with persistent noise caused by trucks passing constantly through the area, and worried the situation would worsen with the additional truck traffic.
The warehouse is slated to add 1686 vehicle trips, including 214 truck trips per day to Route 222, according to a township-required traffic study by McMahon Associates, Chester County.
Traffic estimates questioned
The conclusions of that study—which residents have questioned repeatedly—were again the subject of scrutiny Wednesday.
Residents reiterated concerns that the number of predicted truck trips doesn't align with the number of truck bays and the estimated number of workers at the facility.
They worried the actual number of trips could be two or three times higher than what was estimated by the study.
John Previtera was among several who cited township guidelines for land use that hold that new developments shouldn't adversely impact traffic, the health and safety of residents, or the character of the neighborhood.
"Our children, our grandchildren...we're all at an increased risk," Previtera said of the warehouse plans.
That risk is amplified by the possibility that local emergency services may not have the capacity to handle a fire at a nearly one million square-foot facility, according to Jarrett Gibboney.
He brought up a blaze that he said occurred in 2022 at a Walmart distribution center in Indiana similar in size to the proposed warehouse.
"It took 76 hours of firefighting and 34 fire companies, which is about a third of all volunteer fire companies in Berks County," Gibboney said. "I don't think that's something you want to put on our fire departments."
Gibboney said he'd started an online petition against the warehouse that has garnered 750 signatures.
Lea Buchanan worried that a large warehouse nearby would lower the value of her home.
"Like most people here, my home is my number one investment," Buchanan said. "You're directly affecting the value of my home...which is affecting how much I have for retirement."
Another issue was the warehouse's impact on the neighboring Berks County Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
"A lot of people bought these plots and are laid to rest there, sitting in the bright open sunshine," said Joe Higgins. "Now they're going to be in the shadow of a monstrosity."
Other concerns dealt with pollution from the site, including increased light pollution and the warehouse's possible effect on stormwater runoff, and the potential for vehicle fluids and other chemicals from the property to leak into local waterways via nearby Peters Creek.
Following the public comment, developers and residents opposing the plans agreed that supervisors would render a decision on conditional use on Dec. 21, at 7 p.m. at the township building.
Granting conditional use does not guarantee final plan approval.
