Although meeting attendance is normally in single digits, Hanover Township's new municipal meeting room was filled to capacity at council's Oct. 3 meeting.

Residents were not there for a tour.

Trucking firm A. Duie Pyle wanted to change a word in a permitted use clause for land adjacent to the company's terminal and near the Carmike Theater, changing the permitted use designation from automotive repair to vehicle repair. That request brought out township residents from the Sherwood Park area.

Years ago, when Hanover approved the Carmike location, the land surrounding the building and parking lot were considered by local municipal planners to be an ideal location for retail establishments that would feed off Carmike's customers.

"We have had all kinds of proposals for that space, but none of them ever came through," said Councilman Michael Woolley, responding to a resident's query. Planted on the property is a sign touting the opening of a new Taste of Italy location that was proposed to council earlier in the year as a new 250-seat restaurant. It is not going to happen. Taste of Italy instead opened a standard storefront location in Valley Plaza near the Bottom Dollar supermarket.

What is proposed is a vehicle repair facility for A. Duie Pyle's trucks. And that is something the residents vehemently oppose.

Attorney Joseph Piperato, representing A. Duie Pyle, asked council for a formal public hearing to discuss the proposed change. Council granted Piperato's request and opened the floor to comments by residents.

Piperato reiterated to the residents on several occasions that he was not there to answer detailed questions, but rather just to confirm a public hearing. Councilman William Kovacs asked residents to listen to the proposals made by the company.

The residents' complaints, voiced by dozens who took the microphone, were about noise. Evergreens, underbrush and vines form the barrier between Carmike, the truck terminal and homes along Sherwood Street, but the noise and the dirt from the parking lot and the trucks still manage to get thorough.

US Foods has a trucking terminal near the apartments on Sherwood Court, and residents expressed dissatisfaction with the noise level from the terminal, although it is in Allentown and not subject to Hanover's jurisdiction.

Peter Latta, one of the owners of A. Duie Pyle, finally took the podium. He cited A. Duie Pyle's commitment to the community and the improvements made to the old Yellow Freight Terminal that now houses the company's freight operations.

"We only handle dry freight so there is no need to run reefers [refrigeration units mounted on trailers], which make noise," he said.

Latta said that the proposed repair facility would be used for quick repairs needed to make a tractor-trailer roadworthy.

Council Chairman Bruce Paulus announced at the meeting that he would vote against the repair facility, regardless of the outcome of the public hearing.