Allentown planners reject extension to build a warehouse at 1024 N. Bradford St.

Will it be a warehouse, or a data center? That’s the question about a project in Allentown’s East Side, near the Lehigh Valley IronPigs’ stadium.

Representatives from developer J.G. Petrucci on Tuesday asked the city planning commission to extend its application to build a 146,000-square-foot flex warehouse at 1024 N. Bradford St. for an additional year. However, plans were also submitted by Petrucci in August to build a similar-sized data center on the same site.

The request puzzled commission members, who wanted to know why Petrucci was asking for the extension for the warehouse project when it appears that plan has changed.

“What does the client want to do with the property?” Chair Christian Brown asked. “Is there any intent to develop a warehouse as it was approved?”

After extensive debate regarding the applicant’s intent and whether the extension should be tied strictly to the warehouse use, the commission voted 3-1 to deny the request. Brown was the lone vote to grant an extension, while commissioner Craig Beavers abstained.

Petrucci received approval to construct a warehouse on the property in 2022, but the site remains vacant. The developer can request extensions for up to five years.

Data center projects have been controversial across the Lehigh Valley, with two proposals in Allentown drawing public opposition. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, Lehigh County and local residents have objected to the one proposed on Bradford Street, as it would be next door to Executive Education Academy Charter School and Jefferson Park, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, as well as the Lehigh River.

“Flex industrial warehouses can be anything from storage of materials to even more intensive uses like e-commerce,” said LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley, who testified against granting the extension. “But they have a different employee and commercial vehicle impact than, let’s say, a data center would. A data center needs things like industrial substations. If their goal is for a data center, why continue to push the flex industrial use, and why should you grant that extension?”

Petrucci applied to construct the data center Aug. 5, the same day City Council approved stricter requirements for where data centers can be built. The city denied the data center zoning applications Sept. 3, citing that data centers are not a permitted use under the city’s general industrial zoning district rules.

Petrucci appealed the denials to the city’s Zoning Hearing Board, with a scheduled hearing Dec. 7. A complaint against the city was also filed in Lehigh County Court to force zoning permit approval. That hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8.

One reason city planners denied the extension was that it accused Petrucci of using the extension as a holding strategy for the data center rather than demonstrating it had made any progress on the warehouse, such as posting final plans or posting financial security.

Karley Biggs, an attorney representing the developer, said that it was not reasonable to expend time and money for the project while waiting to see which way it would go.

“There’s no reason for circumstance to require the developer to complete those steps while the city and the developer remain in active litigation over the proposed use of the property,” Biggs said.

The city updated its data center ordinance in August after anti-data center activists complained that one passed in June did not go far enough. The newer version only allows data centers in one of the city’s three industrial zoning districts by special exception. The changes also increase the minimum property line setback from “sensitive” uses such as homes, schools and daycares, from 200 feet to 500 feet.

Developers will also be required to hold an informational meeting about their plans to the public before any formal hearings or votes.

The amended ordinance will apply to all data center land development applications submitted after June 24, which is when the amendments were introduced. However, it does not apply to the proposed data center at 2401 W. Emmaus Ave. in south Allentown, because that application was submitted earlier. That project recently received planning commission approval.

Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.