Developer linked to potential Amazon distribution center in Churchill withdraws bid for $10M in state aid
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The developer proposing to build a large and controversial Amazon distribution center in Churchill has withdrawn its bid for $10 million in state aid.
In a letter dated Friday, Hillwood Development withdrew its application for $10 million in state funds through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.
Still, Churchill Borough Manager Alex Graziani on Friday said the proposal is not dead.
“They’re still moving forward,” he said of Hillwood. “I don’t know why exactly they dropped that.”
Hillwood Development, based in Texas, has been trying to purchase the former site of the George Westinghouse Research Park in Churchill. The developer identified the end-user of the site as Amazon.
A proposed plan for the site involves demolishing blighted buildings and constructing a 2.6-million-square foot distribution and logistics facility.
Many Churchill residents vocally oppose the project, with some organizing into a group called Churchill Future, which distributed yard signs opposing the project and this week held a protest outside of the borough building.
Residents have raised a plethora of concerns about constructing a large industrial facility in their residential community. Common worries include traffic, noise and light pollution and environmental concerns. Developers have tried to address those concerns, though many residents remain opposed to the project.
Proponents of the proposal point out that the 133-acre parcel has sat largely vacant for years, and that bringing in a new Amazon site would bring more than 1,000 full-time jobs, plus between $600,000 and $660,000 in annual taxes to Churchill and between $2.3 and $2.5 million in taxes for Woodland Hills School District.
Churchill’s planning commission is scheduled to make a recommendation on the proposal on Wednesday, after hearing months’ of debate on the subject. The planning commission will either recommend the project’s approval, recommend it with conditions or not recommend it.
The planning commissions’ recommendation, however, is “non-binding,” Graziani said, and a formal decision will come from the Churchill Borough Council at a later date.