Penn Forest Township supervisors will have a public hearing Monday night on a draft ordinance amendment that would create a new zoning district and regulations for warehousing, storage, distribution centers and trucking company terminal leases.

The hearing on the new C-1A district, which is zoned residential and south of Route 903 near the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Northeast Extension, will take place at 6 p.m. at the township building.

Charlie Schmehl, vice president of the Urban Research and Development Corporation, was hired in April at $98 per hour to help craft the amendment.

“The township currently has two industrial districts that are potential sites for a distribution center, but the goal was to have at least one other area where it would be allowed,” Schmehl said at a township meeting in August. “The C-1A district would only be allowable for smaller truck distribution centers.”

The draft ordinance is available on Penn Forest’s website, https://pennforesttownship.org.

According to the draft, the amendment is being made to “assist in meeting the township’s legal obligations to allow for warehousing and distribution center uses.”

Under the ordinance, warehouses at 100,000 square feet or more would only be allowed by conditional use in the industrial district. Warehouses between 25,000 and 99,999 square feet would be allowed by conditional use in either an industrial district or the new C-1A zone. Smaller warehouses at 24,999 square feet or less would be allowed in both districts.

“Larger warehouses would be restricted to the larger industrial districts, but this would give the township additional ground area where a warehouse distribution center would be physically possible,” Schmehl said.

Tim Kennedy, who lives along Route 903 near the municipal building, said he’s concerned for wells in the area. Much of the area under consideration for a zoning change, he said, is wetlands.

“I think the wetlands here contribute to the local wells in this area,” Kennedy said. “The majority of the wells in this area are shallow. They’re only about 100 to 125 feet deep. Our pumps are hanging around 80 feet. Above your pump, you have anywhere from 40, 50 or maybe 60 feet of water. So that puts their drinking water right up close to the surface of the land.”

Kennedy said he’s proposing a different use for the land in question.

“I’ll be at the meeting Monday and I’m going to propose that we establish a nature preserve,” he said. “We need to protect the land around here. We don’t need warehouses and it seems to me they’re just opening the door for that.”

According to the proposed amendment, supervisors may require additional earth berming, setbacks, landscape and lighting controls as deemed necessary to provide compatibility with nearby dwellings. Any warehouse property should have access to a street able to handle the anticipated amount of truck traffic without using an existing township owned road.

Any proposals would also require a professional traffic study addressing safety items and proof that room is available on site for trucks and emergency vehicles to maneuver.

A parking area has to be provided to allow trucks to wait on the lot until they are ready to load or unload.

If a loading area is within 1,000 feet of an existing dwelling or residential zoning district, a professional acoustic study will be required to show projected noise impacts.