Bethel Township Planning Commission on Jan. 21 tabled a request by Bell & Evans to rezone a nearly 63-acre farm the company purchased in April 2023 for $2.5 million.
The vote, which followed nearly 30 minutes of discussion, was 3-1 to table the rezoning request.
Planning commission chairman Beverly Martel and commission members David Brubaker and Christine Spangler agreed to table it while commission member Dale Snader voted against the motion.
Read More:
- Bell & Evans acquires 62.7-acre site next to existing chicken plant for $2.5 million
- Planned use of nearly 63-acre Bethel Township farmland remains uncertain
It’s the second time the rezoning request has been deferred by Bethel Township officials. Immediately after Bell & Evans purchased the farm in April 2023, they requested the property to be rezoned from agricultural to manufacturing.
But the commission voted against approving it at their August meeting, and township supervisors voted in September 2023 to deny the requested rezoning.
Alex Kinzey, project engineer for Steckbeck Engineering, made the latest request on behalf of Bell & Evans officials to change the former Randall M. and Diana R. Fischer 62.69-acre farm’s zoning from agricultural to manufacturing.Â
The request is part of a long-range plan of the Fredericksburg-based poultry producer to connect Plant 3 on Chestnut Hill Road to a planned packaging/cooling facility to be built on the farm property within the next 10 years. Plant 3 sits adjacent to the farm.Â
The new packaging/cooling plant – which is part of a 3- to 10-year growth plan that was revealed by company president Scott Sechler to the planning commission in December – would be sited on the farm at 241 Blue Mountain Road near Chestnut Hill Road.
Kinzey said Bell & Evans plans to connect the two properties to lessen truck traffic on township roads.
“We would have interconnecting roads for truck traffic between the two plants,” said Kinzey, who responded “right” to Martel when asked if the trucks would avoid using Chestnut Hill Road to travel from Plant 3 to the packaging/cold storage facility.
Planning commission engineer Matthew Mack of Mack Engineering asked Kinzey to explain the planned use of the farm property after Kinzey said there would be two buildings constructed where the chicken houses sit.
“A cooling facility, basically, a giant refrigerator building and the other one would be a lot of their packaging equipment,” said Kinzey.
Mack asked if the plan was to move processed products from Plant 3 to that location.
“Right,” answered Kinzey. “There’s even talks of – I joked last time about conveyors and stuff – and there are serious talks about that and ways to more efficiently transport other than loading into a vehicle and driving it over there.”
Mack also asked if the company planned to ship products from the storage facility via Fredericksburg Road, which currently directs truck traffic into Plant 3 from state Route 22, to avoid using Blue Mountain Road, a township-maintained road.
“I think, again, that they want an entrance” on Blue Mountain Road, said Kinzey. “But they would be approving all of this, too.”
Mack asked if they intended to make improvements “all the way down” Blue Mountain Road to state Route 22. Kinzey responded he doesn’t know if Bell & Evans intends to make improvements beyond those planned for the intersection of Chestnut Hill Road, which has limited site distances at its intersection with Blue Mountain Road.
During additional discussion, Martel asked why a variance wasn’t requested, and Brubaker asked why it had to be rezoned. Brubaker added that activities would involve the cooling and packaging of agricultural products on agricultural land, not the manufacturing of goods.
“I think that topic came up when they talked about putting up the processing plant, too,” Kinzey replied. “Is that still ag versus a commercial use?”Â
Snader asked Kinzey why Bell & Evans isn’t asking the commission also to rezone another property that Sechler announced at the last meeting would be used for a ready-to-eat, or cook, plant. That facility is to be located along Fredericksburg Road by state Route 22 in an area that’s zoned commercial.Â
“Time on that one. A variance is a quicker process,” said Kinzey. “We have a little more time with the Fischer property, so we thought we’d try to do the proper channel (for that) rather than ask for a band-aid (solution).”
Spangler said she had concerns about rezoning the property.
“I am not adamantly opposed to it, I see some of the logic, but I thought they said last time that this was a look 10 years in the future,” said Spangler. “And if that’s the case, why do we have to rezone it now? Anything can happen in 10 years, and once it’s rezoned, it could be sold. I know that’s not the intent, but it opens that door.”
Kinzey said a reason he believes Bell & Evans is asking to do the rezoning now is because the company has agreed to make traffic safety improvements to the intersection at Blue Mountain and Chestnut Hill roads.
That statement drew an immediate response from Martel and others, with simultaneous comments being made by several commission members.
“They agreed to do the intersection before this ever happened,” Martel said. Spangler then said, “Ideally, the intersection thing would be figured out before we agree to rezone it.”
When asked by Martel for his opinion, Snader said he favors rezoning.Â
“Because of the use that’s there already, it’s a commercial operation with the chicken houses with trucks … and what have you,” said Snader.
Brubaker asked what happens to that area if it’s rezoned and then Bell & Evans sells the land to another company that constructs a warehouse there instead.Â
Snader responded he believed that the chances of that happening were “pretty slim.” His colleagues noted that the possibility would still exist if it is rezoned now.
Mack said any zoning request would require the planning commission to consider traffic volume, site use, utility requirements, public sanitation, water use, and stormwater planning. Â
“They have electricity out there and could easily extend that over,” said Mack. “The traffic, the adjoining roads, they’re planning on improving that intersection, but then what is proposed to go north on Blue Mountain (Road from the Chestnut Hill intersection to state Route 22)? We’d probably have to have a serious discussion about that. And then it (the conversation) would be the use.”
Mack added that the use would require knowing the total number of onsite employees at the packaging/storage facility. Kinzey said he doesn’t know how many workers the company envisions employing there.
Snader reminded his colleague that any rezoning action is to be consistent with the existing comprehensive plan.
A tenant of the township’s comprehensive plan, he said, is for township growth to occur from Fredericksburg outward, adding that this request follows that requirement. He also said the 241 Blue Mountain Road property is “right up” from state Route 22.Â
Several meeting attendees expressed concerns or asked questions to board members about the company’s expanding use of water for poultry operations, among other queries. One resident said his well is already tested monthly to ensure it doesn’t run dry, and he wondered what impact additional growth will have on his well.
Earlier in the meeting under old business, Martel asked Kinzey – under an agenda item titled “Bell & Evans Chestnut Hill Rd/Blue Mountain Road improvements” – if it was “still pending.”
“As we discussed last time, we’re rolling along with the future plans and what makes the most sense,” said Kinzey about planned improvements at that intersection and the company’s long-range plans.
“I remember part of the conservation was that had to be done before we let you do anything else, so just remember that,” said Martel. “Something has to be done, we can’t just keep pushing it off, pushing it off. ’Cause the next thing we know, it’s 10 years from now and you’re still doing projects and that (intersection) is not done.”
In other business, the commission voted to elect officers for 2025. The commission retained Martel as chairman, Brubaker as vice chairman, and Kathleen Sheroky as recording secretary.
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