Middletown Warehouse Plans – Neighbor Concerns

How will this effect your neighborhood?

Middletown neighbors are worried warehouse plans could bring noise and traffic
Residents of a quiet Langhorne neighborhood are concerned a surge in development could lead to traffic and noise problems. The area is set to be sandwiched between new homes as the Oxford Valley Mall area is redeveloped, and roughly 800,000 square feet of warehouse space.

Work recently began on construction of roughly 600 apartments at the Oxford Valley Mall by developer Cornerstone Tracy. A huge warehouse with a tractor-trailer parking area is proposed for what’s known as the Reedman-Toll tract situated behind Hulme Avenue and to the side of other homes in Langhorne Gardens. The developer, 213 Industrial LLC, also wants to build a second, bigger warehouse on another former Reedman-Toll tract on the other side of East Old Lincoln Highway (Route 213).

Neighboring residents aren’t convinced that the sound-stifling walls proposed by the developer will work, and they fear they will be covered with graffiti. They’re worried about light pollution and the noise of trucks in a 24-hour facility.

The zoning is on the side of the developer, as the land is zoned for M-1, light manufacturing, and warehouses are an allowable use. The supervisors are concerned that if they outright deny the proposal, that they would have to defend an expensive legal appeal to Bucks County Court and could lose. The supervisors voted 4-1 to table the proposal to deny the project, with Supervisors Chair Mike Ksiazek voting against the motion. Supervisor Anna Payne suggested a meeting with residents and the developer to try to iron out issues. The developer’s attorney, Michael Malloy, said they hope to have it sometime in mid-October.
Source: Courier Times; 9/19/2022