Middletown supervisors approve two-warehouse development with $1 million traffic contribution after heated public comment

The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors voted to grant preliminary and final land development approval for two warehouses proposed at 1600 East Old Lincoln Highway, with conditions including compliance with township subdivision and zoning ordinances, PennDOT highway-occupancy approvals, and a $1,000,000 voluntary contribution from the applicant to expand an adaptive traffic-signal system along the corridor.

The board's action follows a presentation from applicant counsel Mike Malloy and consultants that described design changes intended to reduce impacts on neighboring homes: a 20% increase in landscaping above ordinance requirements, shifting truck turnaround areas, stormwater adjustments, and an eight-foot, sound-rated barrier. Malloy said the developers 'meet objective criteria' for the industrial use and emphasized the project team's long-term maintenance commitments.

Why it matters: Neighbors argued the changes do not address what they called large traffic increases and overnight truck noise. Multiple residents cited peak-hour congestion and a written traffic page they said showed 4,227 daily vehicle trips for the site as an example of worst-case impacts.

Residents pressed the board during a lengthy public-comment period. Susan Corletto, a Third Street resident, described the developer's outreach meeting as a 'dog-and-pony show' and said the $1 million contribution 'felt like an attempt to bribe the board.' She told the board, 'If you needed a variance to get this project going, you were never in compliance with community standards.' Michelle McKay, who said she works at Maple Point Middle School, asked whether the warehouses would operate 24/7 and warned of early-morning backing alarms and idling diesel fumes. Fred Weiner cited numbers from the applicant's traffic documents and urged the board to consider how many cars would be added to Route 213.

Applicant and consultants responded that no tenant has been identified and that the traffic study represents a worst-case estimate required by PennDOT and township rules. Corey Green of Kimley-Horn, the applicant's traffic consultant, said adaptive traffic-control systems typically reduce travel times by 20% to 30% in case studies and explained the contribution would fund corridor-level signal upgrades, not a site-only improvement. Sound consultant Tad Hardy and others showed visualizations and modeled how the proposed building massing and a barrier would reduce roadway noise from the east and southeast.

The motion approved by the board required full compliance with outstanding review comments, PennDOT highway-occupancy approvals and concurrence on roadway improvements, and the $1,000,000 contribution for expansion of the Lincoln Highway adaptive signal system and related off-site improvements. The motion was seconded and passed on a 4-1 vote (one board member voted nay). The resolution specifies that noise barriers and on-site buffers are to be constructed as a first stage of work and that final plans must address all outstanding review comments before recordation.

What happens next: The resolution conditions the approval on PennDOT approvals and final engineering sign-offs; the applicant must address outstanding review comments and finalize construction plans before work can begin. The applicant also agreed to sequence on-site noise-mitigation measures early in construction.

Board and participants quoted in this article are drawn from the meeting transcript of the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors meeting.