North Manheim Twp. supervisors hear about warehouses, again

NORTH MANHEIM TWP — The township supervisors agreed to release the proposed Enterprise Opportunity Overlay District ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting in the township building.

Following an executive session, the supervisors voted unanimously to release the document — against the advice of the township’s attorney.

Mark Koch, solicitor, has steadfastly maintained the document is in draft form and not subject to provisions of Pennsylvania’s right-to-know law.

The supervisor’s action negates a planned meeting on a right-to-know request submitted by a vocal opponent of the ordinance, which had been scheduled for Thursday.

The board’s decision came after an occasionally contentious public comment period that lasted nearly two hours.

For the third month in a row, opponents of the ordinance packed the meeting in an effort to pressure the supervisors to reject the proposed ordinance out of hand.

In June, Crossroads Commercial Development Corp., a Cumberland County warehouse developer, submitted the ordinance at a township meeting, officials said.

If approved, it would establish an overlay district, a defined area that would allow warehouses to be built on land zoned agricultural/residential.

The move is a tactic often used by developers when they believe the township zoning ordinance does not have sufficient space on which to locate a warehouse.

Supervisor chairman Wayne Bowen said, in general, the area that could be impacted by the ordinance is south of Route 61 and north of Adamsdale Road.

It is his understanding, Bowen said, that the developer has agreements of sale on some of the land in the area, subject to the approval of the ordinance.

“The developer has probably been working on this for years,” he said, “and already has a significant amount of money invested.”

Responding to requests from opponents, the supervisors agreed to request the developer, William A. Aiello, to attend a public session and explain his plans for the area that would be included in the overlay district.

A man who said he recently spoke to him told the supervisors Aiello was not interested in attending a public meeting in the township.

Crossroads Commercial Development Corporation is listed as an active corporation in Pennsylvania in state records. It is located in Lemoyne, Cumberland County.

During the public comment session, a woman predicted the township could expect to be flooded with right-to-know requests. A man inquired about how many of the township’s 4,400 residents were registered voters, suggesting political consequences. And a woman said she “used to” shop at a store owned by one of the supervisors.

The supervisors assured skeptical residents that no decision on the proposed ordinance would be made without notice of a public meeting being advertised in a published legal notice. No timetable was set for a decision.

In other business, the supervisors adopted a $4.9 million budget with no tax increase for 2025.

The supervisors turned down an opportunity to raise their compensation to $3,145 a year under the provisions of Act 94, a new state law. Instead, they kept it at the current $1,875.

The board approved the purchase of a 2025 Ford F-600 dump truck equipped for plowing at about $130,000 for the township road crew.