This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.
Bell & Evans gave Bethel Township officials a preview of its long-term growth plans at a Tuesday, Dec. 17, meeting of the planning commission, including preliminary designs for construction of a Ready-to-Eat production facility.
The 120,000-square-foot facility would be used for production of a variety of packaged pre-cooked chicken products for consumers.
Also highlighted at the meeting was an action item for new facilities at Firemans Park, which will be financed by the company in cooperation with Fredericksburg Fire Company, the park owner.
Another discussion concerns plans for a future packaging/storage facility on a 62.69-acre farm in Fredericksburg purchased by Bell & Evans for $2.5 million in April 2023, and mention of a trucking garage near one of its existing plants.
Two other future projects were also briefly mentioned during discussion.
The only action item at the meeting concerning Bell & Evans’ various presentations was a waiver request of a land development plan for Firemans Park, with several stipulations.
The granted waiver request requires the fire company, as the applicant, to file a stormwater management plan in addition to applying for a Highway Occupancy Permit with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The unanimous decision by the planning commission means the waiver request will be presented to township supervisors for adoption at a future meeting. The fire company is the applicant for the park project with Bell & Evans agreeing to pay for construction and other park upgrades.
Township engineer Matthew Mack of Mack Engineering Inc. said during the meeting that a driveway permit is required to limit liability for traffic entering and exiting the park, which is located at 2652 Pine Grove St. along Route 343.
That route is a state-owned highway. Mack noted a driveway permit for the park has never been issued by PennDOT.
“My big concern is traffic, movements coming out of there,” said Mack during discussion. “One condition is to pursue a PennDOT permit immediately for the driveway. … Ultimately, we have to have a driveway permit there.”
Mack mentioned limiting use of the driveway until the permit is received, but an official with the Fredericksburg Fire Company said its board voted to cancel all 2025 activities at the park – with the exception of Hinklefest in September – so construction can occur without people using it.
It was stated there were 27 activities in the park in 2024 and 11 applicants expressed wishes to use it in 2025. However, fire company officials voted to close the park to limit liability while much-needed upgrades are made.
In cooperation with the fire department, Bell & Evans has proposed constructing new buildings and bathroom facilities, making parking upgrades and tying water and sewer into the public system.
Bell & Evans president Scott Sechler Jr. said it’s his desire to make the park an even greater community asset for residents, adding porta-johns were a distraction and gravel made walking the parking lot impossible for older residents and those with disabilities.
“It (the park) needs a major overhaul. There are no (actual) bathrooms, the kitchens don’t meet safety standards, parking is a problem, and there are a lot of liabilities with the park (in its current condition),” said Sechler. “We want to clean that stuff up and have water, sewer, proper bathrooms, proper driveways, proper parking, proper electricity.”
Sechler adding the planned upgrades will make it a destination, saying, “If we do this, the fire company will have lots of people wanting to use it.”
Alex Kinzey, an engineer with Steckbeck Engineering, told the planning commission his company has designed an “aggressive” construction schedule so it can be completed by September for Hinklefest, an annual event that celebrates the poultry industry.
“We’re looking at breaking ground in April, pushing for it then,” said Kinzey. “I know that’s aggressive.”
Concerning the RTE plant, Kinzey said their plan, which will be formally considered by the planning commission at its Jan. 21 meeting, is “fairly straightforward.” He noted the facility will be a cooking operation and be similar in design to all other plants owned by the company.
He stated traffic will be segregated with truck parking located to the rear and employee parking to the front of the building.
Mack said a land development plan was submitted to the planning commission and that formal discussion on that proposal will be addressed at its next meeting.
The land development plan includes an option to build an additional 65,000 square feet at a future date, according to Mack. A traffic impact study due to increased traffic on Fredericksburg Road was requested since one was not submitted with the company’s land plan application.
Mack told LebTown after the meeting that the plan does not include an address for the property since that space, which is owned by Bell & Evans, is currently vacant. He said the lot is bound on the east side of Fredericksburg Road and Route 22 and across from 109 Fredericksburg Road on the south side of Route 22.
Sechler told the planning commissioners that the operation would produce four flavors of organic and non-organic rotisserie chickens.
“We will cook the whole chicken, marinate it, vacuum pack it while hot, and then chill it,” said Sechler. “It can then be reheated in a microwave or an oven. There will be no cross-contamination. We will use a high-tech, very specialized cooking system.”
Sechler added Bell & Evans’ new plant will avoid “recall issues plaguing old plants that don’t have the technology to manage bacterial loads.”
“This is a big, big investment in the plant so that we can produce high, high quality products that are (already) cooked,” Sechler said.
At the former Fischer farm, located on Blue Mountain Road, Sechler said the company plans to build a packaging and freezing operation. The Blue Mountain Road property was acquired from Randall M. and Diana R. Fischer in a $2.5 million transaction recorded with Lebanon County on April 14, 2023.
That land sits adjacent to Bell & Evans’ state-of-the-art, 411,500-square-foot plant, which opened in December 2021.
Sechler said that if the township changes the zoning from agricultural, a road would be constructed to connect the packaging plant to the adjacent processing operation.
“That would cut down on truck traffic if we can get those properties combined, cut down truck traffic by 20 to 30 percent,” said Sechler, who noted that will limit traffic using local roadways since the two properties are connected.
Planning commission vice chairman David Brubaker noted there are three farms slated for farmland preservation that are not within land zoned agricultural in Bethel Township.
Brubaker stated that changing the zoning for the three preserved farms, totaling around 200 acres, in exchange for the approximate 63 acres on the former Fischer farm would result in a net gain of agriculturally zoned land in Bethel Township.
Concerning other future projects, Mike Bracrella, chief operation officer for Bell & Evans, said the company is planning to develop a site for a truck garage on the west side of Fredericksburg Road opposite from the RTE facility. In that same area, both of which are in proximity to Plant 3 on Chestnut Hill Road and the ACE Hardware Distribution Facility, the company plans to build a feed mill.
“Everything we do, we want to make it nice and exceed everyone’s expectations,” said Sechler. “We don’t own property anywhere else. Everything needs to look like we’re doing things right in the food business. Here in Fredericksburg, we have a chance to get it right.”
The next meeting of the Bethel Township Planning Commission will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, in the municipal building at 3015 S. Pine Grove St., Fredericksburg.
Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
Free news isn’t cheap. If you value the journalism LebTown provides to the community, then help us make it sustainable by becoming a champion of local news. You can unlock additional coverage for the community by supporting our work with a one-time contribution, or joining as a monthly or annual member. You can cancel anytime.
More Top Stories
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
