By BILL HALFOERSTER
The Home News
Another meeting, in what promises to be a long series protesting warehouse distribution center plans by FedEx, was held last Tuesday by the Allen Township Board of Supervisors. That meeting, attended by more than 40 residents, crowded into the supervisors municipal building meeting room. The next one, and who knows how many more, will be held in the more spacious dining hall of Allen Township Vol. Fire Co. #1. That will be on Thursday, Feb. 13.
The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority plans to sell 253 acres of land along Willowbrook Road in the township to FedEx for $9.6 million, which would allow the package company to build more than two million square feet of warehouse and distribution center space.
FedEx, as part of the plan, expects to make $25 million in road improvements around the area to handle the thousands of tractor-trailer and delivery trucks, as well as their employees’ cars. The plan as a whole was unveiled before the Allen Township Planning Commission on Jan. 20. It is also being studied by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.
Supervisors Chairman Paul Balliet said on Jan. 28 that the development plans will likely be under consideration for the next several months due to their complexity.
The residents are most fearful of the thousands of trucks that will be traveling back and forth from the facility, disturbing their environment and the rural setting that they have grown to love. They want it someplace else, not in their backyard. On the other side of the picture are the factors of more jobs and new tax revenues for the municipality and the school district.
