Churchill Planning Commission recommends plan for Amazon center
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Churchill’s Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of a conditional use application for a potential Amazon distribution center in Churchill on Wednesday.
Their recommendation is non-binding, but will be considered when Churchill Borough Council renders a final decision in the coming months.
Texas-based Hillwood Development submitted the conditional use application, proposing to construct a 2.6-million-square foot distribution and logistics facility for Amazon at the former site of the George Westinghouse Research Park near the Parkway.
During Wednesday’s meeting — which concluded at nearly 12:30 a.m. — all four members of the planning commission who were present voted to recommend the proposal with several conditions.
A fifth member of the planning commission recused herself from the proceedings, as she also sits on Churchill Borough Council, which will make a final determination on the proposal in the coming months. She was not present at the planning commission meeting.
The conditions, which the planning commission negotiated for about an hour, will require the developers to prove they can meet certain requirements regarding items like traffic, parking, air quality, storm water, sound, lighting and environmental issues, said Churchill Borough Solicitor Gavin Robb. The final version of those conditions will be posted on Churchill’s website within the next several days, Robb said.
Prior to the planning commission meeting, a group of Churchill residents opposing the development protested outside of the borough building. The group, dubbed Churchill Future, was specifically speaking out against the fact that in-person participation in planning commission and borough council meetings has not been reinstated as covid-19 precautions lift, said Kate Carrigan Hill, who planned Wednesday’s protest.
“It’s amazing to all of us that council still refuses to let us do this in person,” she said.
Though residents can’t participate in person, many have spoken via Zoom during recent meetings.
Many residents have vocally opposed the potential Amazon site, citing concerns ranging from traffic and noise to storm water and environmental concerns. Members of the Churchill Future group have passed out yard signs opposing the project. They hosted a large protest that drew over 100 people prior to a recent borough council meeting.
Proponents of the development cite the potential for more than 1,000 full-time jobs with benefits. The development would pay between $600,000 and $660,000 in annual property taxes to Churchill and between $2.3 and $2.5 million in taxes to the Woodland Hills School District, a former member of Churchill’s planning commission previously told the Tribune-Review.
Yet residents who oppose the development are still fighting it.
“When I woke up this morning, I felt deflated but I didn’t feel defeated,” Carrigan Hill said, adding that many members of their group had expected the planning commission to recommend the development.
She said she’s still hopeful that the borough council will vote down the proposal. If they don’t, she said, Churchill Future has retained a zoning attorney, and they plan to take their case to court.
“We’re prepared, if necessary, to take this into court. None of us want to do that, but that’s where we have found ourselves now,” she said.
Churchill Future will present their concerns during a public hearing that is scheduled to begin — over Zoom — on Monday. The public hearing is expected to last several days and will include testimony from representatives of Hillwood Development and Churchill Future, as well as comments from the public.
After that hearing closes, Churchill Borough Council has 45 days to reach a decision regarding the conditional use application, Robb said.
A separate application — the land development application, which relates to “site specific” elements like the exact site plan — is also pending, Robb said.
The developers are first pursuing the conditional use application. If that is approved, the land development application would likely go before council in October, Robb said.