Jackson Township supervisors hear warehouse concerns

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

The Jackson Township Board of Supervisors heard public comments on concerns related to incoming warehouses at its July 6 meeting.

“I just need to say as a neighbor, I’m disturbed. I see our culture getting eaten up in all this advancement,” said resident Denise McDaniels. “If I wanted to move to the city, I would move to the city.”

McDaniels expressed concerns over the increased traffic, pollution, and noise that more warehouses could bring.

“Once we put these buildings up and we tear down our woodlands and destroy our wildlife, we can’t take that back,” she said. “It’s really going to undo a lot of things, and I’m concerned for the safety and the noise and all our resources going to big business.”

Allen Distribution received a $1 million Multimodal Transportation Fund grant in February 2025 to build three rail sidings serving a proposed 625,000-square-foot warehouse at 655 King St. In October 2025, they received a $2 million grant through Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites Program (PA SITES) intended for extending water, sewer, and power utility lines and for off-site transportation improvements.

Chairman Thomas Houtz said some zoning ordinance changes are in the works, particularly related to building height requirements.

“We know we have a change coming in our zoning ordinance to rectify some of the corrections we need to address,” said Houtz.

Township engineer Steve Sherk said when zoning ordinances were adopted in Jackson Township in the 1970s and early 1980s, warehousing was allowed in the industrial district along the railroad; however, at that time no one envisioned 500,000-square-foot warehouses.

“They thought these would be warehouses of maybe 10, 20, or 30,000 square feet with a couple truck docks,” said Sherk.

In May 2025, supervisors approved an ordinance regulating warehouses and truck terminals.

“We added special provisions like where trucks would specifically be routed so they would not necessarily be going through a neighborhood,” Sherk said. “But you can’t simply eliminate a use in a township.”

Sherk noted the King Street warehouse developers have talked about primarily using rail freight to bring product in and out of its facility, which is a positive in light of McDaniels’ concerns with increased tractor-trailer traffic.

Additionally during public comment, resident Elvin Felty addressed supervisors regarding an ongoing issue with people in his neighborhood installing fences and sheds without applying for the necessary permits or following required guidelines. Felty urged supervisors to send letters to area residents reminding them to read their property deeds and look at requirements on the township website before adding things such as sheds, fences, and trees.

Mark Payonk informed council that Lebanon County Community Cats, a trap-neuter-return effort, has fixed and vaccinated approximately 200 cats so far this year. Payonk noted residents can bring pet or feral cats to be fixed by No Nonsense Neutering on Aug. 26 at Jackson Recreational‍ ‍Park, 41 S. Fairlane Ave. Cost is $95 per male cat and $100 per female cat.

In other business:

• Council discussed purchasing the Mosquito Anti-Loitering Alarm to potentially be installed at Jackson Meadows Park in response to unhoused individuals sleeping in the area. The device costs approximately $698 and omits an irritating sound intended to prevent people from loitering, explained Houtz. Supervisors agreed to research further before proceeding.
• Council approved advertising a hearing for the adoption of an ordinance for public water hook-up requirements. Houtz said the ordinance will require new buildings within 150 feet of a water main to connect to public water rather than a well.
• Work on the next phase of Wheatland Woods Lot 107 is slated to begin July 13. 
• Council approved a motion to award Palmyra-based Custer Excavating work on the North Ramona Road culvert replacement at a bid of $46,266.

Jackson Township supervisors will meet again at 7:30 p.m. on July 20 at 60 N. Ramona Road. Meetings are open to the public.