The Reading Eagle was there, covering the four-hour conditional use hearing and the article highlighted several major issues with the proposed million-square-foot development in our community.

Read the full article here, and please find some selected quotes below. Much more to come. This fight is not over. Join us.

A hearing to determine the fate of a proposal for a 930,000-square-foot warehouse at Route 222 and Schaeffer Road in Maidencreek Township continued with testimony from the project engineer.

Cornelius Brown of Bohler Engineering, Philadelphia, was called to testify during a nearly four-hour hearing that featured extensive questioning by a residents group opposing the plans, as well as by supervisors and the township’s special counsel.

The cross-examination then was turned over to residents, whose questions — peppered by objections from Adelman — followed a pattern of in-depth inquiry seen in previous hearings.

Residents asked about issues including the warehouse’s stormwater system, parking and truck lot, chemical storage strategies, potential tenants, Brown’s experience and the reasoning behind specific design choices.

One line of questioning dealt with the existence of sinkhole-sensitive areas on the plot.

Supervisor Joshua Meck asked about plans to drain stormwater through a series of lined basins, which would filter the water into adjoining areas.

He noted that adjacent land had not been studied for the presence of sinkholes and wondered whether allowing more water to seep into the adjacent land — which includes residential areas and the Berks County Memorial Gardens cemetery — could cause sinkholes.

“I have a problem with draining large basins into a cemetery,” Meck said.

Brown said the amount of runoff that currently emanates from the plot is more severe than what is being proposed, and that the site will use a comprehensive stormwater management strategy to prevent excessive drainage.

The developers, their witnesses and their attorney have NOT been forthcoming on so much contained in their plans. Do we really believe that they’ve considered all of these issues and planned accordingly? Do we really think that they have the best interests of our communities and township at heart?

Remember: you do not see a tax break when a new building is built. The only demonstrably proven impact of warehouse development on residential communities is — you’ve guessed it — decreased property values.