Jackson Township approves regulation for warehouses and truck terminals

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The Jackson Township Board of Supervisors on May 19 unanimously approved a new ordinance governing various warehousing and truck terminal uses, but not without a complaint from a spokesman for at least one affected property.

In a public hearing before their approval of Ordinance 3-2025, legal representation for the owners of 50 S. Ramona Road said the ordinance seemed targeted. Supervisors in March heard their plan to split the 104-acre property, which is zoned for industrial use, into three lots for use as warehousing and distribution centers.

Supervisors on March 3 had questions for the presenters and shared some concerns, noting that they had heard from officials at the nearby Jackson Elementary School that they were not interested in a development so close to the school, and that nearby roads were not prepared for the heavy truck traffic.

Read More: Jackson Township supervisors voice concerns about warehouse development

Esch McCombie, an attorney with McNees Wallace & Nurick, said during the hearing that they made changes to the plan following supervisors’ comments, including getting rid of the development closest to the school.

He said they were interested in working with the township, but the two parties “weren’t off to a great start.”

“I don’t want to give the impression tonight that I’m here as an adversary — that’s not the intent,” he said. “We still want to collaborate and work with the township under the ordinance as it is today, as it applies to the plan we submitted, but we do feel like we got pushed into a corner a little bit, and that is why I’m here. … To some extent, it appears like it’s almost special legislation.”

He said the smallest building initially planned was 102,000 square feet, but the ordinance requires large warehouses or logistics centers over 100,000 square feet to get a special exception.

McCombie said the ordinance’s public notice was not sufficient because a section that is the majority of the ordinance only occupied three lines of the notice. He asked the board to delay the public hearing and go through the notification process again.

Several residents also spoke during the hearing, all expressing their support for the ordinance. One resident asked if this was guidance from the county. Solicitor Paul Bametzreider said it wasn’t — the ordinance was put together by the township in consultation with the engineer and solicitor.

Engineer Stephen Sherk said McCombie’s statement about the ordinance being directed toward the Ramona Road property was not correct.

“This ordinance is actually taken from guidance that was put out by the York County planning commission and a group called PennFuture from northeast Pennsylvania,” he said. “They had an amount of ordinances that they had put out specifically for these types of uses, and that was what was used as the primary guidance for this ordinance.”

After the meeting, supervisor Thomas Houtz said the township was discussing the ordinance before they knew about the warehouse plan. He said it was introduced to fill a gap in the township’s laws.

The ordinance also requires these buildings have direct access to a road that is classified as principal arterial, minor arterial, or major collector roadway as designated by the Federal Functional Class Map published by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Sherk said the only township roads meeting the criteria are King Street, State Route 501, and State Route 422.

In other business, supervisors:

• Voted to allow Sherk to prepare bids for the first phase of the Wheatland Woods project, which will include putting in walking paths and an access drive, redoing the parking lot, adding perimeter fencing, and clearing and grubbing the area. They are submitting a grant request for the second phase, which will pave the walking paths, put in pickleball and basketball courts, add ADA access from the parking lot, and landscape the area.
• Gave permission to advertise the bids for the resurfacing of the township building parking lot.

The Jackson Township Board of Supervisors will meet next at 60 N. Ramona Road on June 2 at 7:30 p.m.