Mahanoy Township hears feedback and pushback as it considers zoning amendment, courts two warehouse developers

MAHANOY CITY – No action was taken during an at-times contentious and heated public hearing as Mahanoy Township considers rezoning much of the township’s land atop Broad Mountain to Industrial.

A capacity crowd heard from the township’s board of supervisors as well as two developers they are courting with hopes three warehouses will be built.

The township is considering rezoning much of the vacant conservation residential and conservation mining zones atop Broad Mountain — near Morea, New Boston, and Vulcan — to Industrial.

If approved, the changes would dramatically expand the amount of land available for manufacturing plants, warehouses, and distribution centers.

Currently, such uses are restricted to the immediate area of the Mahanoy Business Park, including Fabcon, and an area north of New Boston along the mountain top and behind the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy.

The expansion includes areas north and south of the two villages and on either side of Vulcan Hill Road, nearly to the village of Buck Mountain.

The Proposed Changes:

Attorney John Hampton, of Ashland, provided an overview of the hearing and the matter before supervisors. He questioned two representatives from warehouse developers about the benefits of such developments for the area, both in job creation and tax revenue.

Lauren Black, vice president of Trammel Crow Company, said her company is considering a 1.3 Million square foot warehouse along the Morea Road.

She said that, while the zoning changes are not necessary for her company’s project, it would allow more flexibility to build the warehouse with less impact to the nearby area.

“We want to be in communities where we fit into that by-right, permitted zoning use,” Black said of zoning.

She explained that the property in question is split into two parcels — a more than 240-acre parcel at the rear and a smaller parcel in front, closer to Morea Road. The rear portion is zoned industrial while the front portion is zoned conservation residential.

She said if the front portion was rezoned, the driveway of the property could be shifted “away from the eastern edge of our property, away from the homes there.”

While she did not specifically identify where the parcel is, her description matches the area between New Boston and Morea, where Ringtown Rentals, LLP owns a 288-acre parcel that abuts the Morea Road on the eastern portion, across from the rear of 37 Back Street in New Boston. The front portion is owned by Felix J. DiCasmirro and, if included in the project, could allow the driveway of the warehouse to be built closer to the prison. The land has already been cleared and is subject to the rezoning plan.

Black also provided an overview of the jobs typically found at the warehouses, at the request of Hampton.

Nicholas Rakowski, vice president of development for Hillwood, said his company is planning warehouses on both sides of the Vulcan Hill Road.

He said, without the zoning change, his company’s project would not move forward.

Jack Hurst, business manager of the Mahanoy Area School District, said the district welcomes the additional tax revenue for the warehouses.

“It would be probably in the $600,000 to $700,000 range [from each building,]” Hurst said.

“So that would be about $1.8 Million per year,” Hampton asked, clarifying.

The Mahanoy Area School District listed $25.6 Million in revenue in the 2025-26 budget. Hurst said, currently, the district is heavily dependent on residential tax revenue.

“Any additional revenue we can get that can help with [charter school costs, special ed costs, and more], as opposed to putting it on the residential taxpayers, we would be for that,” Hurst said.

Frank Zukas, president of the Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO) talked about ongoing development along the Interstate 81 corridor, including at the Highridge Industrial Park.

He said Highridge generates about $5 Million in property taxes to the Minersville Area School District, Cass and Foster townships, and the county, as well as $1 Million for Butler Township and the North Schuylkill School District, in addition to job creation.

“These projects, you’ve got to look at them from that perspective,” Zukas said. He said, aside from Mahanoy Township’s occupied residential areas, much of the land in the township isn’t available for “generating any kind of large revenue stream associated with development.”

“Converting them into possible industrial use makes all the sense in the world,” Zukas added.

Members of the public raised concerns ranging from potential water use to traffic to the development’s proximity to homes.

Zach Broomell lamented the township’s method of providing public notice, as they followed the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code which requires physically posting the affected properties and advertising in a print newspaper.

He called the zoning amendments “bulls–t” before moving back to the notice issue.

Lisa Broomell said “there are no homes” near the warehouses mentioned by Zukas as well as in the Hazleton area.

“What you are planning is to put a warehouse 300 yards from an existing home,” Broomell said.

“There are no land development plans before Mahanoy Township,” Hampton said.

Additionally, the Humboldt Industrial Park wholly surrounds the Village of Humboldt, a cluster of at least two dozen homes behind the Tap at Humboldt. The Procon and Romark Logistics warehouses are within 300 yards of the village.

Broomell also mentioned the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program and asked if it was passed for the warehouses. Hampton said it would be considered at an upcoming meeting.

Township supervisors adjourned the meeting without voting on the proposed changes.

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