Public Hearing Set On Jaindl Zoning Swap

voted Thursday night to hold a public hearing on Dec. 21 on a and commissioned a traffic study impact by Keystone Consulting Engineers.

The rezoning swap, proposed by Jaindl and approved by the township's Planning Commission last month, would allow a manufacturing company to build at the corner of Schantz Road and Route 100.

Jaindl Land Co. wants to subdivide the into 44 acres for Light Industrial development with the remaining 16 acres left for future use, possibly by other businesses. It is said that Ocean Spray is the manufacturing company, but that has not been confirmed.

Supervisors, who are being asked to legislate the matter, and engineers representing the township are interested on traffic impact at the site and in the surrounding areas.

"We need to see the bigger picture," said supervisor Kathy Rader.

Supervisor Sam Ashmar was even more to the point.

"What we've got in the township now is an embarrassment," Ashmar said, in reference to the traffic problems currently faced in Upper Macungie. "Why are we looking at a zoning change now? We need to have an in-depth traffic analysis. Going straight into a zoning change is a blind decision."

Dean Haas of Keystone Consulting Engineers said that the impact study would be wise from a planning perspective, as there are at least six developers looking at Upper Macungie at the present time.

The other developers would be at the mercy of PennDOT should the zoning swap go through uncontested.