NEWS

Warehouses allowed only in industrial and highway commercial zones in Antrim Township

Shawn Hardy
Echo Pilot

Warehouse development in Antrim Township is clustered around U.S. 11 and Interstate 81 between Greencastle and State Line. Township supervisors took action April 25 that will mainly keep it that way.

The board voted to amend the township zoning code to remove warehouses, also referred to as wholesale business facilities, as a conditional use in the community commercial zone. The change went into effect immediately.

“The board of supervisors determined that as a whole, the areas on the zoning map shown as CC would not support the impacts of a wholesale facility,” according to Sylvia House, township zoning and code enforcement officer. “They considered the road network, the impact a wholesale facility would have on the neighboring properties and the availability of public utilities.”

Conditional use application denied:Warehouses can’t be built at Green Grove Gardens event center location

Built, under construction and planned:Pressure building as I-81 continues driving development in Franklin County

With some exceptions, both sides of Route 16 east and west of Greencastle, the east side of Williamsport Pike and much of U.S. 11 north of Greencastle are zoned community commercial. The surrounding areas are zoned agricultural, low-density residential and medium-density residential.

Warehouses will only be permitted in the industrial and highway commercial zones indicated, respectively, by purple and red on the Antrim Township zoning map after township supervisors voted April 25 to no longer allow them as a conditional use in the community commercial zone, shown on the map in light blue.

The change has been discussed numerous times over the years as more warehouses were built in the township. Supervisors recently asked House to prepare the amendment to make it official.

Warehouses are still permitted in the industrial and highway commercial zones, which are better situated for traffic off Interstate 81, House said.

The Walmart fulfillment center stands out along Interstate 81 at Exit 3 in Antrim Township. Pictured April 6, 2023.

The biggest industrial area is south of Greencastle on the west side of U.S. 11. The Manitowoc crane manufacturing property near Shady Grove and a sliver on the east side of U.S. 11 north of Greencastle also are industrial.

The zoning is highway commercial in a band east and south of the Borough of Greencastle around I-81 between Route 16 and U.S. 11.

The vote on the zoning amendment came the same night as supervisors held a conditional use hearing, then turned down on an application from a Maryland-based developer to build two warehouses on the Green Grove Gardens site, located in the community commercial zone between Greencastle and Shady Grove. Supervisors agreed with the recommendation of planning commission members that developer had not fulfilled the criteria for conditional use approval.

Between 80 and 100 people packed the township meeting room for the hearing. With the exception of representatives of the developer and property owner, there was no testimony in favor of the warehouses.

Shawn Hardy is a reporter with Gannett's Franklin County newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania — the Echo Pilot in Greencastle, The Record Herald in Waynesboro and the Public Opinion in Chambersburg. She has more than 35 years of journalism experience. Reach her at shardy@gannett.com