FedEx Freight Seeks Expansion Approval In Bristol Twp.

A FedEx tractor-trailer making a delivery. File photo. Credit: Scott T. Sturkol

FedEx Freight received several variances from the Bristol Township Zoning Hearing Board to expand its existing truck terminal located along Route 13.

The site is currently functioning above capacity, according to FedEx representatives who presented their case at Monday’s zoning hearing board meeting.

“This facility has been in existence since the mid-90s. There was a plan to expand it at that point by the original builder,” explained Michael Gee, Service Center Manager for FedEx Freight.

Gee, who has managed the Bristol Township location for 13 years, described the challenges in operating at the site in its current layout.

“We’re having to triple and quadruple stack trailers there to keep them out of the way just so that we can maintain activity through the yard,” Gee said. “There’s a lot of moving of equipment turning the dock to get things done as it exists today.”

The proposed 36-dock door expansion and addition of parking would extend the facility to the east and west sides of the property.

Shawn Gallagher, the attorney representing FedEx, noted that the east and west sides are the only viable directions for expansion due to site constraints, including a water detention basin and nearby cemetery.

“The overall hardship is the unique nature of the long skinny driveway into the site and the triangular effect of the site,” said Brian Conlon, of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, the project engineer. “On the very north of the property is our stormwater infiltration basin, which is very sizable.”

The expansion plan includes additional employee parking and increased yard space for equipment.

FedEx currently employs 89 workers at the site, with plans to reach 90 to 91 employees in the coming weeks, Gee said.

The current parking area only accommodates 84 vehicles.

Safety concerns are a primary motivation for the expansion, FedEx representatives said.

The current congestion in the yard creates hazardous conditions, according to Gee.

“Double stacking trailers like that, there’s not really a curb stop. You kind of run the risk of backing into equipment,” Gee said. “We’re trying to avoid collisions on the yard, any kind of impact to our employees. We don’t want to see our drivers hitting equipment or damaging equipment.”

The seven variances requested by FedEx included, a reduction in the required buffer yard adjacent to a commercial zone from 25 feet to 21 feet in one area, a reduction in the required buffer yard adjacent to residential districts from 30 feet to 16 feet on the eastern side, an increase in impervious coverage from the permitted 65 percent to 86.2 percent, a variance related to site capacity calculations for impervious surface, permission to disturb 0.92 acres of floodplain and 1.3 acres of woodland, a variance to disturb 67.1 percent of wooded area, exceeding the 20 percent maximum allowed, and a zero setback from resource restrictions.

Conlon said that despite these variances, the company is taking steps to mitigate environmental impacts.

“We are enhancing that because we are removing the buffer with an enhanced landscape buffer that does meet the code in that area,” Conlon said, citing the eastern buffer reduction.

The expansion is also expected to reduce noise from the facility that can be heard from nearby homes and businesses.

“We would actually have to move around less equipment so we would not have to turn the dock as many times during the day,” Gee said. “We wouldn’t have to pull as many trailers in and out from the dock, which would actually have a net benefit to the noise impact.”

In addition to employee parking, the site also serves as a safe haven for drivers from a FedEx subsidiary called Custom Critical.

“When they have high value shipments where they want to be in a secure location while they’re taking their hours of service, we provide them safe haven,” Gee said. “I’ve had as many as six to 10 drivers there at one time.”

The facility operates 24 hours a day from midnight Sunday through midnight Friday, with overlapping shifts throughout the day.

The project still requires approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Bucks County Conservation District, as well as township council approval for land development.

The Bristol Township Zoning Hearing Board unanimously approved all seven variance requests, allowing the project to move forward to the next stages of the approval process.

Georgine’s, the popular Newport Road restaurant that’s been around for 48 years, received the green light to upgrade its sign.

The Bristol Township Zoning Hearing Board approved their request to replace the old changeable sign with a new LED digital display.

The new sign will display static messages on a timer, without any fancy scrolling or animations, said co-owner Michael Nagel. He added that the sign will mostly show information for the business, with the occasional wedding announcement thrown in.

To address concerns about brightness, Nagel said they’ll be adjusting the sign’s operation. The south-facing side currently turns off at 7 p.m., but they might tweak that for daylight saving time. The north-facing side will run at half brightness, which Nagel said isn’t any brighter than the old fluorescent tubes.

“We’re not trying to cause problems,” Nagel assured the board. “If anyone brings up issues, we’ll address them quickly.”

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