With eye toward developing a vacant portion of Falls Township, the Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously adopted an ordinance amendment to expand the permitted use of the riverfront district.
The expansion of the permitted use will allow warehouse operations in the existing riverfront district, which already allows for industrial use.
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The request for the change was spurred by Stalwart Equities, a firm looking to combined about 95 acres to construct a nearly 1 million-square-foot warehouse at the former Solvay and part of the Rogers Foam Corporation tracts that abut East Post Road and Biles Creek at 2300 Pennsylvania Avenue in the Morrisville section of the township.
A representative for Stalwart Equities said the company wants to build the warehouse and the change in zoning would help with that effort. While a sketch plan has been submitted, the company plans to file detailed plans to township in the coming weeks.
Stalwart Equities first presented their plans to the supervisors in June. The plan calls for a 916,300-square-foot warehouse and 60,000-square-feet of office space that could be used by one tenant or broken up for several.
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In July, the Falls Township Planning Commission did not recommend the plan move forward due to concerns over the proposal not fitting the recommended use for the site and concerns about the impacts on traffic.
The facility could host 700 vehicles a day with 150 to 200 per day being trucks.
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On Monday evening, the supervisors received a briefing on the numerous steps being taken by the developer to handle traffic. The plan includes widening South Pennsylvania Avenue in the area; adding separate truck and car access points; and directing trucks along Route 13 to Tyburn Road, and to South Pennsylvania Avenue.
Officials from Stalwart Equities said they are working with Morrisville Borough to restrict larger trucks from traveling through the borough to get to the site.
In summer, the developer said the warehouse could employ up to 500 people and annually generate $963,000 in real estate taxes to Pennsbury School District, $41,000 in municipal taxes, and $33,000 in local services taxes.
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