A standing-room-only crowd filled the Allen Township Fire Company social room last week to object to a proposal to construct a FedEx warehouse on township property.

The Allen Township Planning Commission opened the Jan. 20 meeting, which had been moved to the fire company to accommodate the anticipated crowd, with a discussion on the warehouse hub proposed along Willowbrook Road. Nearly 200 residents attended the meeting.

Officials from Hanover Township, Lehigh County, also attended, as traffic on Race Street and Willobrook Road in Hanover would be affected if the plan is approved.

The numerical basics were pre-printed on fliers distributed by StopFedExHub, a grassroots organization led by John and Suzanne Mattaboni, residents of Allen Township.

The project proposes 982,000 square feet of warehouse with additional warehousing anticipated with 290 truck docks on 253 acres. According to John Mattaboni, the local traffic study identifies 1,800 tractor- trailers and 580 delivery trucks and thousands of cars, totaling as many as 14,000 additional vehicles.

Although the project calls for expansion of local roads, including Airport Road, Race Street and Willobroook Road to handle the increased traffic load, there is no additional improvement proposed to Route 22 where all the new traffic is supposed to go.

According to the opposition's presentation, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, which approved the proposal, did not address traffic on Route 22 because it was not part of the request.

This meeting of the Planning Commission was exploratory. The developers propose to subdivide the property into four lots, two of which would be purchased by FedEx for the hub.

Of the 60-plus residents who addressed the commission, only two spoke favorably about the project. One resident identified an argument used by the commission to support the project. He said a property owner has the right to develop a property as long as the developer complies with current zoning.

According to Planning Commission Chairman William Holmes, the property was zoned industrial in 2006. Most of the members of the commission have long tenures, so the decisions made about zoning are not unknown.

Mattaboni explained the opposition's contention that the owner, Lehigh Valley International Airport, stole the property from its rightful owners using eminent domain and changed the zoning to industrial. He suggested that the property be rezoned to agricultural.

Generally, there was no opposition from the residents who spoke about the zoning classification, however, they were opposed to this level of buildup. The resounding response from several speakers was that the FedEx hub would turn the area into a Fogelsville East.

One speaker asked why the facility was not located on I-78, providing more direct access to New York City and New Jersey with freeway access along Route 33 to I-80 and even to I-84 to cover the northern New Jersey and New York suburbs. When asked after the meeting about the service area and the I-78 location, a FedEx representative at the meeting would not comment except to say that the Allen Township site was the location selected by FedEx.

Mike Givey expressed residents' concerns that property values would drop with the added noise and traffic.

Attorney Lincoln Treadwell, who represents the planning commission, took the legal path and asked how the residents knew their values would decline. His response elicited not only groans from those in attendance, but generated two proposals to sell existing homes near the project.

The commission, in its discussion of the project, made a couple of proposals including rerouting of access points to the hub and providing a bus stop. Both ideas were attempts to reduce traffic congestion.

Resident Steve Pignatto addressed air quality, citing an independent study reporting that Lehigh Valley has work to do in reducing existing air pollution let alone adding more particulates from truck diesel fumes.

Resident Kim Pierce-Napa was tasked by the opposition to track permits required by the FAA. The FedEx plans call for a 53-foot tall structure. She questioned the commission on the need for the permits for this structure, but Holmes replied that FAA permits were not within its purview. Napa told The Press after the meeting that, according to her records and research, there were no requests to the FAA for permits. "Getting the permits could take a couple of years," she said.

In his opening remarks, Mattaboni indicated that the FedEx proposal was kept secret for months until it needed approval. Several speakers contended that the commission meetings were only a sham and the decision was already made. Holmes indicated that the commission's hearings had a bearing on the outcome. Vice Chairman Eugene Clater stepped in with a detailed explanation of the role of the planning commission in township property development. He explained the commission is legally bound to approve an application if no rules are violated.

Mattaboni was not deterred by the response and asked StopFedExHub supporters to attend the next township council meeting on Jan. 28 to voice their opposition.